I’m not really comfortable with our public service personnel doling out retributive justice. Sometimes their jobs will involve damaging a car that is parked in a fire lane, which I’m sure has a special sense of satisfaction. As nice as it is when some jerk gets their “just desserts” I just don’t feel right endorsing it. It’s a slippery slope to abuses of power and harassment. Maybe that person’s car was in the wrong place due to a mechanical failure or a medical emergency - do they deserve to have “inconsiderate jerk” spray painted on their vehicle?
Interesting discussion of this topic about fire lanes among firefighters…
@ccatx
Sorry, but I have to disagree with you 100%
I’ve seen plenty of people pull up and park their vehicles in the fire lanes
Their car is running fine, no smoking, no fluids pouring out, not bucking like a bronco, everything is normal
And when they get out, they look pretty healthy to me. They usually look better than I do . . . ! Then they lock their car and smugly walk away, to do whatever it is they were planning to do, knowing they’ve got a special parking spot, because rules and laws for common folks don’t apply to them.
It’s probably the same guys that park in the handicapped spots, yet they don’t have any problems and don’t have a handicapped parking tag
Sure, it is likely that the majority of folks parked in fire lanes are self-absorbed jerks. But I believe in giving folks the benefit of the doubt and in not doing additional damage/harm when it can be avoided. And I don’t think it is appropriate to give public service personnel like police & firefighters carte blanche to do excessive damage to property, even to jerks.
When you see these folks park this way, call the police and get them ticketed. That is the legal recourse for parking in a fire lane, along with risking damage in the event there is a fire and your vehicle is in the way & incurs damage.
@ok4450 Like I said, I agree with parking in front of a hydrant. The fire fighters have to do what they have to do. But we were talking about parking in a fire lane too. I have never seen a hydrant in a fire lane, although I’ll look a little closer now. Fire lanes are to get the equipment up to the building which usually have the standpipes in the building with the fire hoses and don’t use hydrants. So two different things, hydrant access, and fire lane access. Of course on narrow city streets, equipment access can be restricted due to normal car parking as well as people parking in front of hydrants. Everybody knows not to block a hydrant though (most everyone).
And in a fire lane, you tow, you don’t just ticket. That’s the idea to get them out of there. I had a nice new something or other sports car towed, with the club attached that was parking in our loading zone so trucks couldn’t unload. Tried paging and no response. We were nice to put it on a flat bed but the wheels squealed all the way up the ramp. Never heard from the guy. I’ve been on both sides. I paid my $10 tow and I’m not a thoughtless inconsiderate jerk. In case of fire I was there before the fire fighters.
Geez, @ccatx In Tennesee they can destroy your house if they think it will help put a fire out. What fun. Neighbors house is on fire so they take my house down so the fire doesn’t spread. I think they may want to revisit that statute. Also from the answers by the fire fighters, its sounds like they don’t know either what they can do or can’t. Obviously life and death is one thing, although seems like its exaggerated sometimes, but a fully engulfed empty building is another. The only thing they do is make sure it doesn’t spread.
I really don’t mean to be anti-fire fighters, but like some police, sometimes they sound just a little macho in that what they do takes precedence over everything else. Boston has a lot of old tinder box buildings though on narrow streets so that makes a difference in attitude I guess.
Yes, the statutes seem to be all over the place on this, though government immunity probably protects much of what they do except for intentional & unnecessary damage. Even the fire fighters on that forum don’t know what behavior is protected & what is not, when damage is necessary & when it is not, so we are all pretty much at the whim of their discretion. The law & public opinion (& the public interest in protecting the city treasury from lawsuits) will probably side with them if their actions are at all defensible in the interest of putting out a fire quickly. I just fail to see how spray painting an insult on someone’s vehicle could possibly be protected behavior, so I personally don’t want fire fighters doing it. Just because you are doing something good doesn’t mean you can cross the line and do something unlawful and have that be OK.
Topic has strayed so I’ll bow out & agree to disagree with some folks on this one since my opinions clearly differ.
VDCdriver That is why I now only drive if I have a reason to and avoid the interstates.
missileman I was part of a team that a local radio show sponsored that went out in large parking lots and checked the air pressure in vehicles. What we found was amazing. Most tires were either under-inflated or over-inflated. The under-inflated group was probably 75%. We rarely found a vehicle with the proper air pressure and when we did find one we left a coupon for a free dinner at a local restaurant. We also left notices of under-inflated or over-inflated tires. The radio station got some nasty letters about “How dare you check the air pressure in my tires” so they suspended the program. It is dangerous out there for sure.
Ignorance is bliss! It was a good program. If I got one of the low tire pressure notes I would have sent a thank you note and some donuts to the radio station. I check my tire pressure every month and oil level every week.
VDCdriver The workplace accident video is great. I made a training presentation for my National Guard unit with photos from Can’cun Mexico. They were mostly pedestrian hazards like manhole covers and utility access covers removed from sidewalks with no warning cones or tape. The bad guys are not the only threat in foreign lands. It is not Kansas and OSHA is nowhere to be found. Don’t assume you have the right of way crossing a street in a crosswalk with the light. You will likely be ran down by a city bus doing 80kph in a 40kph speed zone. If you somehow survived don’t expect any compensation. You would more likely be fined for obstructing the transportation system!
Firefighters would not spray paint a derogatory comment on the offending vehicle. They do have the authority to remove obstructions in the most expeditious manner if fighting a fire. Those who think that is somehow wrong might reconsider if they were trapped in their burning 5th floor hotel room and the fire truck ladder could not quite reach them because an “inconsiderate jerk” was parked in the fire lane and a police officer was writing a citation. When finished he would call a towing company to carefully remove the offending vehicle. What planet are you people from???
What planet are you people from???
Earth.
In the fire lane scenario, with modern construction the fire plugs are generally located 50’ from the building in the parking lot. This allows the firefighters to connect a line from a safe distance or connect to a pumper.
To run a fire line 30’ and have it pass through the windows of a parked car would be ridiculous. Cars parked in a fire lane next to a building can be moved with a chain in less than a minute unless there is a fire hose running through the windows.
people do get carried away at times,but one of my pet peeves are the vigilantes who take it on themselves to help the highway patrol or DOT find a reason to issue a citation,my other peeve is the jerks that diagonal park their precious vehicle so another vehicle cant park close and some people who think they are privilaged enough to have a special parking spot(when they have nothing in it) and how come woman in their third trimester up until the kid is about a year old cant get a handicapped parking permit?-Kevin
"my other peeve is the jerks that diagonal park their precious vehicle so another vehicle cant park close"
Kevin–I think that I posted this video previously, but in case you didn’t see it, here is an example of how one Jeep driver dealt with a Corvette taking up two spaces.
Thanks VDC,I get the urge to park,the ol RD 690 the sameway,but you know the more I drive and observe,the less I like to drive(I dont need no urging to let the Wife drive on a long trip)-Kevin
I would call someone messing with my tire valves without my permission: “Inconsiderate parking lot behavior.”
I guess I can’t say I would be pleased if someone was checking my tires in the parking lot. Especially in the winter you have to be careful of the valves freezing. Plus how can you tell what the proper inflation is without opening the door and reading the label? The same tire on two different cars can carry different factory inflation specs, no?
To run a fire line 30’ and have it pass through the windows of a parked car would be ridiculous. Cars parked in a fire lane next to a building can be moved with a chain in less than a minute unless there is a fire hose running through the windows.
I believe you’ve inadvertently combined the two scenarios into one and that is why it makes no sense.
There have been at least two instances within the last few years in the Boston area with people parking in front of hydrants on the street. The fire dept broke out the windows so the hose would have straight access to the hydrant. Needless to say, the car was not alone on the street or it probably wouldn’t be blocking a hydrant. Pushing or pulling it out of the way would take far more time than simply smashing the windows with the hose coupler and feeding it through.
Parking in a fire lane is another scenario and the issue pointed out was one of the truck not being able to occupy a space close enough for the ladder to reach where it needs to go. Waiting for a tow truck or bothering to take the time to hook up a chain is ridiculous, they are going to push that thing out of the way with whatever means is necessary if it blocks access.
Fire departments should carry the four-wheeled dollys that my repo guys and body shop have.
Yah, they’d be another piece of equipment to stock, carry, and store…BUT…
Put one under each tire of ANY parked vehicle and push-and-roll it with ease.
The original discussion was about a supermarket and then a shopping center fire lane with the idea of braking windows to route a fire hose.
The examples of a vehicle blocking a fire hydrant were on city streets.