DATE: Friday, November 14, 1997             TAG: 9711130257

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 09   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Letters 

                                            LENGTH:   62 lines

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - VIRGINIA BEACH

I feel compelled to make the public aware of a serious safety risk before it claims another victim.

In July, my wife was bicycling home on Laskin Road. She was on a well-marked roadside path that is used frequently by tourists and locals, adults and children, both biking and on foot.

A driver pulling out of the Surf N Sand cinemas slammed into her and injured her badly. The driver's insurance company claimed that there was no designated bike path and that my wife was in an oncoming lane, so their driver was not responsible for any of the damages she incurred.

Inquiries to the City Manager's Office revealed that the path was marked with signs indicating it was a bike path until they were taken down in 1995. The city is aware that pedestrians and bicyclists still utilize the path, as there is no other pedestrian way provided. All children and adults using the path are doing so at their own risk. We hope that other people do not have to pay the price we did for using misleading city facilities.

John Erb

Oct. 15 Building approval should be studied

The Sand Spur Villas town homes presently being constructed west of the intersection of Shore Drive and Jade Avenue in Virginia Beach are proof that the Beach is not serious about its announced Shore Drive area beautification project.

This project consists of a single building of straight line construction that is ugly to say the least. The plain looking construction with its 14 roof peaks in the front is poorly designed, has no character and imagination and does not match similar new construction in the area.

These town homes start in the $180s. They are just across Jade from the beautiful and only slightly more expensive, Wind Rose brick town homes.

The Beach needs to look into its building approval process, which is currently hurting the city and its residents.

Ray Myers

Sept. 29 commend, don't punish Beach police officers

It appears that the Virginia Beach Police Department and many of its officers have undergone unnecessary embarrassment because of ``miscommunication.''

Due to prematurely leaked information to the media, ``Confusion Muddles Beach Police Case.'' (The Virginian-Pilot, Oct. 8). It would behoove the media to cautiously handle information from ``unnamed sources'' who may have their own axes to grind inside an organization.

Training can always be improved but after the dust settles in the March 25 police shooting we may find that most, if not all, officers responded appropriately. Virginia Beach Police had received information that an ``officer was down.'' This translates to an officer having been killed or seriously injured.

During the chase the suspect continued to ram police vehicles and refused to submit when officers had every reason to believe that he was armed. Officers should be commended not punished for doing their jobs.

Mary L. Butler

Oct. 15

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