Before I get to the substance of this article, I want to first spend a moment on rules of the road as they pertain to headlamps and when they need to be activated.

During the past week, we have seen higher than usual temperatures, While this is great news for most, it also brought with it a drastic change in visibility. Hopefully, by the time you are reading this, our temperatures will stabilize and thus eliminate the unusual amount of fog we have been seeing. But as we move closer to spring these conditions will once again make themselves present.

State Statute 247.06 “When Lighted Lamps Required” sets forth the laws for when to have your headlamps lit. While most of us are familiar and compliant with having our headlamps on during darkness hours, the same cannot be said for the habits of many during conditions of limited visibility. The rule of thumb is to have your lights on when visibility is limited to 500 feet or less, whether that is because of limited light or other conditions such as fog that limit visibility.

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Many of us drive vehicles which are equipped with automatic lights which sense low light levels and activate the headlamps. This is a great feature, but it is not perfect as these sensors do not always pick up on limited visibility conditions not related to low light. Bottom line is that you as the driver have the obligation to verify that your lamps are lit when necessary. I have myself made this error only to be prompted by an oncoming vehicle to activate my lights that I thought were on. Thank you to whoever that might have been.

Now on to the subject of this article. Through our work with 21st-century policing, a recommendation was made to maintain a greater presence on social media. While we are proud of both our website and our Facebook page, we are always open to suggestions for improvement. What we envision is that our website be the platform for information and services provided through the Sheriff’s Department as well as those whom we provide links to. An example of this is our tabs for Sheriff’s Sales, Online Forms, and Jail Information. We also provide links to services such as VINE Link, Code Red, and Wisconsin Crime Alert. We have recently added our crime statistics to our website and will be posting various policies in the near future.

In contrast, our Facebook page is intended to be more interactive and allow us the ability to get information out to the communities on a more regular basis. There have been instances of the community requesting further information on recent events or even providing our department with information they may have which assists us in various ways. This page is monitored by numerous members of our department, and our goal is a timely interaction for those who reach out to us through this format. We also use this format in addition to traditional outlets for our media releases.

In both of these communication formats, we appreciate any and all feedback we receive and will do our best to be responsive to your recommendations. It is important to note that we are many times limited in what information we can share, as we always need to be sensitive to ongoing investigations as well as the need for privacy on behalf of those involved in a given incident.

To visit our website please go to www.kewauneesheriff.com.

To visit our Facebook, page please look for us under Kewaunee County Sheriff’s Department.

You can provide feedback either through messaging or feel free to call my office at (920)388-7177. I look forward to visiting and receiving your input.

Thank you!

Matt Joski is sheriff of Kewaunee County. 

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: Sheriff's Corner: Headlights and social media