And I didn't notice, but it was pointed out in the comments that the area of the BMW next to the fire hydrant was beat in to get clearnace for the hose coupling
Found on http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2601279/Why-NEVER-park-hydrant-Boston-firefighters-smash-BMW-windows-feed-hose-reach-8-alarm-fire.html via http://gentlemint.com/
Hey, what a great idea! There shouldn't be any law for parking in front of a fire hydrant. Just be ready for that one in a billion chance that if there is a fire, the FD will break out your windows. I'd take that risk anytime. What have we been ticketing people and wasting valuable parking spaces all this time for?
ReplyDeleteIf it was your house on fire I am sure you would resent the extra time it took to hook up the hose.
DeleteNo, i wouldn't. I am the son of a fire chief. I know that most house fires result in a total loss, and if the fire is not one that will result in a total loss, there would be plenty of time to hook up the hose. The main reasons they even attempt to put out fires is to prevent them from spreading and to save evidence for arson investigations. If you didn't have to worry about those things, it would be more cost effective to just let the building burn to the ground and save on cleaning and demolition expenses.
DeleteIt's called "karma"!
ReplyDeleteIn our area the lead fire truck will simply push the vehicle down the street a bit so it can get to the hydrant. Then the cops who are also on scene will ticket and tow the vehicle way. Now that's justice to all those scoff law jerks out there who are too frigging lazy to walk a few extra steps. Hey, did you notice that the left rear quarter of the beemer was hammered in to allow room for the three way adapter on the hydrant? Righteous. ;-}
ReplyDeleteIt's the perfect solution. It should be legal to park in front of hydrants. There would be more parking spaces available, but the car owner assumes the risk in the one in a billion chance that there actually is a fire while he is parking there. I bet insurance companies would be OK with covering the damage too, since there is much less of a chance of a fire occurring nearby when a car is parked that having the car sustain damage during normal driving. It would work out perfectly for everybody, except for the city that loses a source of revenue from parking violations. Let's face it, when dealing with a fire, routing a hose around a car is among the least of the challenges that will be faced.
DeleteNeil, I'm getting the impression you got a ticket one time for parking in front of a hydrant.
DeleteNo, I haven't, nor would I ever even consider parking in front of a fire hydrant, no matter how much it inconvenienced me, but only because I have respect for the law. It just seems like such a stupid law ever since I saw that picture of the hose running through the broken car windows. I bet that car didn't increase the time it took the FD to hook up those hoses by even a minute. It just seems so stupid to waste parking spaces just because there happens to be a fire hydrant next to them. I wonder how many fire hydrants have NEVER been used by firemen actually putting out fires. It just seems to make so much more sense to me to allow people to park in front of a fire plug, but to hold the FD harmless if they have to damage the car to get to one. And don't give me any crap about it being an inconvenience to the FD. They have to put up with the inconvenience of traffic on the way to the fire, and no one's suggesting that we eliminate all traffic at all times, because someday, somewhere, there might be a fire. Firetrucks have sirens, lights, and bells to deal with traffic, but firemen only use them in the event of an actual fire. The same logic should be used with fire hydrants. Extraordinary action should be allowed by the FD in the event of a fire, but the rest of the time, the primary use of the streets is for motorists, whether they are driving or parking their cars.
DeleteI agree with Neil's last comment, it's stupid to have the area in front of a couple million fire hydrants held apart from the legal parking "in case" all across America. On the other hand, it's the only way to pay for a police department that does not do the rest of it's job. They are cowards IMHO to waste time writing parking tickets that increase city revenue, instead of the part of their job that involves interacting with criminals. You ever see a cop at an intersection busting red light runners? Never. And they could make money with that. But you see, there is a person running the car through the light, and no one sitting in the parked car at a fire hydrant. Do cops spend the day looking for illegal immigrants among the car wash attendants that don't speak English? No. Looking for illegals in the hotel cleaning staff? No. Want to guess where the 9-11 hijackers were? Right here in San Diego after crossing the border, cooling their heels waiting for the day to jump on the airplanes and crash into the twin towers. Any cops looking for illegals in those months between them coming into the country illegally, and them getting airplane lessons? No. So... why make fire hydrants illegal parking? To give cops something safe to do. Finding the illegal drugs in America (the war on drugs) isn't safe, and that was given to a DEA who can't do their job. Stopping gun running from america to mexico? ATF, and they bungled that. America was on it's game when cops hung out on foot all over the neighborhoods, and busted thieves and criminals. Now they don't and America is going down the tubes. Which came first, corrupt cops http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search/label/abuse%20by%20law%20enforcement or Americas decline?
DeleteJesse: Oh wow, first you got the best car blog that I've ever seen, then not only do you have the balls to agree with me, but you say a whole bunch of other stuff that is 100% true that I completely agree with. You're one of the coolest guys that I have ever come across, and I don't even know you. Keep on truckin' and I will continue to promote you an your site any way I know how. Thanks for having the courage to back me up when you were not obligated to do so.
DeleteWWJWD... what would John Wayne Do? He'd tell cops to get to work god damn it and make America proud. I agree with that. I point out the corrupt cops as a civic duty, and in hopes it keeps my readers aware of the inherent factors they ought to be aware of when dealing with cops. If cops were as good as John Wayne, Capt America, or boy scouts, I'd be applauding them instead.
DeleteGood for you and all the other people who do that too. I don't know if you ever read any conservative blogs, but there's something very strange going on. It's almost like stepping into Bizarro World. Most people (including myself) automatically think of the hippies of the '60's when they think of people that complain about the abuses of police power and other abuses of authority, but if you take a look about who is actually the most concerned about it today, you will notice that its the conservatives rather than the liberals. It's almost a 180 degree turnaround. Hardly anyone would have predicted this 30 years ago.
Deleteupdate video reports that the bmw was only 2 days old, new video added to post
ReplyDelete