Tag Archive for vehicle

Don’t Stop at Red Lights?

Here’s an odd “Week” (I haven’t told you about one in a long while): Stop on Red Week, Aug. 8-13, 2016.  It’s a week declared by The National Coalition for Safer Roads (NCSR).  All of us, whether in a car, on a bike, or on foot, are reminded to stop at red lights.  Common sense, right?

Of course.  So why don’t we do it?  Look at the statistics for 2014. Some 709 people were killed and another 126,000 injured because somebody ran a red light.  I understand that we all lead busy lives, but too busy to spend a few minutes of our day stopped at a light so someone can cross the street, or too interested in biking to our  destination that we sail through (or cut into the crosswalk and pretend to be a pedestrian), or so daring that we dash across the street, thinking we can slip between traffic?

Anyway, at first I thought the idea of this Week was funny, as though we should do it for a week then go back to ignoring red lights the rest of the time.  Now, though, I see it as a great idea, but one that should be stretched out to 52 weeks every year.

Here’s an idea–when you see red, stop.  Be safe out there, please, Readers.

Disabled Parking Fraud

You’ve undoubtedly seen a vehicle pull into a handicap parking space and watched the driver jump out and dash into the store.  Or a motorcycle parks in the cross-hatch section, making the adjacent parking space unusable for vans with wheelchair side-lifts.  Those divers probably don’t have even a hidden handicap, like a heart condition, yet they display a handicap parking placard or figure the cross-hatch is up for grabs anyway.  Even if the passenger in the car is disabled, because he/she isn’t going into the store, the driver should NOT be using that space.  It’s for people who need it, not healthy drivers of people who need it.

The situation is not only illegal but also unfair to many of us: those with real disabilities (visible or hidden) who can’t find a usable parking space, shop owners who lose revenue because disabled customers can’t park and shop, and taxpayers who lose out on parking meter money when the culprit parks on the street.

There’s an organization that is trying to do something about this problem, handicappedfraud.org, which is an independent reporting organization.   You should report abusers to them; each month they send a report to your state.  Also, leave a post-it note saying “Disabled Parking Violation. You have been reported” or something similar.  (For $5 you can get at supply of printed post-its at http://www.handicappedfraud.org/index.php?mod=postit.  See below.)

Don’t get into an argument by confronting the violator.  And don’t worry about reporting someone with a valid placard, because people with disabilities appreciate others being concerned about this issue (I’m one of them).

Thank you for ordering

 

 

Recall? Be Safe

 

Another batch of vehicles is being recalled!  Seems like it’s happening every day.  At this point you’d have to have a car as old as mine (2004) to be safe.  But, no, recalls are going back farther than that.

To be safe, I looked up my Dodge van.  It had an old recall I never heard about and a problem hose that I’d replaced long ago.

I suggest you check your car.  The easy way is to go to the government website, safercar.gov.  The page you need is at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues.  Just put in your make, model, and year and you’ll learn if there are any recalls you should be aware of.  Please do it today. I’d like my readers to be safe.