Opinion: Wonders never cease with stadiums, seatbelts

An accurate description of my topic selection methodology involves taking into account the things I am wondering about at deadline time. If all goes well, I herd all the wonderings together, lasso one item and it becomes a column.

Truth be told, the process has hit a snag. I’m wondering about several things, and I’m too wishy-washy to decide. Thus, here is a variety of wonderings:

In most instances, I could care less what Europeans think of Americans. But in one case, I wonder.

Considering the number of ancient European structures still in use because they have been lovingly renovated over the years, I wonder what they think of our practice of razing 40-year-old athletic stadiums and replacing them with new ones. In Europe, a 40-year-old structure would be virtually brand new.

The practice has been going on for several years. The most recent case of a 1960s vintage stadium being replaced is in St. Louis, where a new ballpark is under construction for the Cardinals baseball team.

The logic seems to be that after 40 years or so stadiums are too archaic to be suitable for professional baseball.

The company line seems to be that they have no choice but to build in order to keep up with the competition, because they have new stadiums. It’s clear that when one team replaces an outmoded 40-year-old ballpark with a new one, the rest will follow. If so, construction crews should be at work on replacing today’s new stadiums around 2045. If I’m wrong, sue me.

Another item I wonder about is a troubling number of fatal one-car accidents. The pattern seems to be that all too often, the occupants killed weren’t wearing seat belts. It seems that hardly a week goes by before this scenario is reported again.

With few exceptions, these accidents are caused by driving too fast on highways that are curvy and hilly. Such tragedies are especially heartbreaking because they didn’t have to happen. It’s usually apparent that drivers have ignored conditions that dictate slowing down and being cautious.

Regarding seatbelts, I wonder why anyone would fail to use them for the safety of drivers and passengers. Risky driving and ignoring seat belts are a simple formula for tragedy.

Even overly cautious drivers need to buckle up. Accidents can happen at any time, regardless of how careful drivers are. Everyone should wear seatbelts. I wonder why some people don’t.

There are no seat belts for motorcycles and bicycles. But riders can wear helmets. Riders may not care, but I wonder why they don’t wear helmets. They should wonder about being out on the streets on two wheels with no protection and vying for space with cars and trucks whose drivers are surrounded by steel. They need to at least protect their heads.

I wonder why riders would even give consideration to the notion of no helmet. We are issued only one head in life; it should not be left unprotected.

I wonder what goes through the heads of drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Granted, some drivers are observant and actually stop to allow pedestrians to cross. The drivers I wonder about seem to have a policy of every man, woman and child for themselves.

On my most recent crosswalk caper, I was nearly speared by a car just as I was starting across the street in a well-marked crosswalk. The driver: a woman traveling about 15 mph over the speed limit and talking on a cell phone, oblivious that there was a pedestrian within 20 miles of her.

All that entered my mind was to avoid becoming a hood ornament on her car. Letting discretion be the better part of valor, I ran for cover. Truly, a primal survival instinct ignited within me.

A driver speeding through a pedestrian crosswalk, talking on a cell phone leaves nothing to wonder about.

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.

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