District 6 Councilman Mike Archer (R-Oakville) has spearheaded a revived effort to prohibit individuals from soliciting donations on the roadways in St. Louis County, citing safety concerns as the push for the new legislation.
“The safety of it goes twofold. Number one, if a driver is receiving something or giving something, it’s distracting the driver. If the person outside of the car window is either receiving or giving something, it’s distracting them and putting their safety at risk on the roadway,” Archer said. “The whole impetus for this is the safety of the people.”
This effort was inspired in part by Archer’s time knocking on doors while campaigning for his county council seat last year, as well as the increasing number of dangerous incidents involving solicitors getting injured by oncoming traffic, particularly in the dark. Shortly after Archer took his seat on the County Council, one such instance occurred near the Bayless Avenue exit on Interstate 55.
“I was sworn in this past January. I knocked a lot of doors in the Affton/Lemay area (and) down here in Oakville. When I was knocking on doors, the people who wanted to talk to me had two major issues. One was the senior property tax freeze, and the other was the unhoused, or the homeless, and the fact that people were being put in jeopardy for their safety when they were soliciting for money in the roadways,” Archer said…