<p>At a shopping center near my home there is Red Box movie vending machine on the sidewalk right in front of some of the stores. The whole sidewalk area by the Red Box machine is a fire lane posted with no parking/no standing signs. When folks park illegally in the fire lane to use the machine, the local cops frequently write the folks up with real tickets right while the offending drivers are standing nearby. It’s more entertaining watching the ticketed people blow their tops getting the tickets from the cops for parking in the fire lane than it is watching any movie from the Red Box machine!</p>
<p>@slitheytove</p>
<p>I’m not sure who the OP is… I didn’t look @ the name… but it MUST be a kid… who has no life experience/little common sense(by that I mean, they have a hard time wrapping their brains around rules/laws etc)…I just can’t imagine a “been around the block a few times adult” would waste the time to post a question like this…</p>
<p>“LOL I can’t believe this is a topic… seriously?”</p>
<p>That was my first reaction. I think there is another important reason for fire hydrants not to be obstructed by cars - so our doggies can do their business with ease. Ridiculous answer? Just as ridiculous as the original question. :D</p>
<p>When I have to go downtown on business, I take the bus. With a little creativity and flexibility even in our poorly served by public transportation urban jungle one can get to most places easily without the need for parking.</p>
<p>Zoos–I live in the low-rent Jersey version of your neighborhood–True story: S’s Little League coach disappeared in the middle of the season–into the Witness Protection Program. We got the low-level wiseguys in our town.</p>
<p>That is hilarious Garland, in a totally sick and relatable way.</p>
<p>I live in the neighborhood with Big Ang’s sister. People take certain things very seriously here, and parking spots are one of them.</p>
<p>My H (then boyfriend) and I were circling a certain south Philly neighborhood back in the day trying to find a spot near a popular (yet unmarked) restaurant. There was a fair amount of illegal parking on the narrow streets and as we slowly trawled looking for a legal spit, we heard a very gravelly, elderly man call out from a stoop “park there” pointing to a location that would double park another car. DH called “thanks, but I don’t want to get a tkt.” Said senior citizen removed cigar from between clenched teeth and growled “nobody gets a ticket around here!”
We parked, ate, and came out. Elderly man still on stoop, car there with no ticket.
PS food was great, but no exaggeration, I was the only female seated that night. Every other table was groups of men…</p>
<p>And on a related topic - why can’t anyone park in handicapped spots as long as they’re only going to be a few minutes or if it’s simply more convenient? Say you’re going to go shoot some hoops for a half hour or so. Why shouldn’t you be able to park in the handicapped spot rather than have to walk an extra 30 feet from a normal spot? If you’re picking up your kid from school who’ll be out in 20 minutes or just running into the store for a week’s grocery shopping then why can’t you park in that convenient spot?</p>
<p>;)
JK - But I actually had that bit about the bball guy happen to me once when I was driving a person with an actual handicap (recently replaced hips) and placard. I told him what I thought of him. We’ve likely all experienced people doing the ‘I’ll just be a minute’ routine. </p>
<p>People are better off parking further away anyway and getting a bit of exercise unless they’re mobility impaired in which case maybe they can find a handicap spot. Having a lack of convenient parking spots pretty much goes along with city living so I don’t think any of the city-dwellers find it unexpected. Some live there on purpose so they don’t have to drive.</p>
<p>I like that linked pic of the fire hose going through the car windows. I hope they broke the windows out with their ax. They also could have just run the hose across the roof or hood - that would have done wonders for the paint job.</p>
<p>
Have you ever seen the show ‘Parking Wars’? It’s set in Philly (and sometimes Detroit). It can be kind of funny.</p>
<p>DNFTT–Do Not Feed the ■■■■■.</p>
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<p>That’s not a good question.</p>
<p>The right question is “do all handicapped parking spots need to be the closest to the entrance of the store.” In other words, if the handicapped patron uses a motorized scooter, can they use a spot that allows them to get in and out of their vehicle but located some distance from the door? Some patrons will need to be close to the entrance - but perhaps not all.</p>
<p>This is especially true at trailheads where handicapped parking spots are installed to allow athletic disabled people the ability to use the trail (but also ensure they can get back in their vehicle later). They clearly do not have a need to be within 10 feet of the trailhead vs 300 feet of the trailhead as long as there is a clear open path to the trailhead.</p>
<p>I really hope the OP is joking. Have you ever had a fire on your street? We have. The fire engines and emergency vehicles need to be as close as possible to the hydrants…and yes…they do parallel each other on the streets at times. </p>
<p>I think it’s pretty petty to complain about the fire hydrant parking issue. This is something that is a matter of safety.</p>
<p>And just for the record…individual residential buildings are not required to have sprinkler systems.</p>
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<p>Wrong!</p>
<p>It’s part of the national building code for all new residential construction. Not every jursidiction is adopting that part of the building code, but it has been adopted in many jursidictions.</p>
<p>I remember when I was “walking” on two broken legs and crutches (one leg so smashed I couldn’t put any weight on it for nine months) and kept being confronted with perplexed people who couldn’t see why I didn’t understand they were just using the only available spot for “a few minutes.” Now that I can walk again, i will never take mobility for granted, and I’m happy to walk by empty handicapped spaces that will be there when someone needs them.</p>
<p>There are real answers to the question:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It assumes the FD knows exactly where the fire hydrant is as they’re coming down the street. Not true. If it’s behind an SUV, they can’t see it. Time can be precious when fire fighting. You see the same thing when they’re out digging a space around the hydrants in the winter: they need to see them. </p></li>
<li><p>Fire hoses can’t wrap around cars. When a fire hose fills, it becomes a thick, essentially rigid thing near the hydrant. They need the space in front of the hydrant for the hoses to run. If they ran them under a car, the car would lift in the air and the hoses might not fill properly. If they ran them around a car, the car would be damaged and/or the hoses might not fill properly. Water pressure is a real need along with the space. They also need space for the multiple connections they might use, meaning they’ll attach a divider to the hydrant and then run multiple hoses - if they have enough pressure. That takes room.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>engineer4life- You are welcome to park in front of a fire hydrant anytime you want to. And fire personnel have the right to break the windows on both sides of your car so they can shove the hose thru to fight the fire across the street, or to push your car out of the way with their engine. I can’t believe you are really an engineer if you use this type of logic. </p>
<p>As for handicap spots, you obviously do not have any contact with people who are confined to wheelchairs, have walkers, etc. We have taken my Mom to a trailhead so she can use her walker to go a short distance along a trail-she spent our childhood taking us camping and hiking for long distances, and she misses it a huge amount now that she is mobility limited. If we had to park on the other side of lot from a trail head, she would not make it any distance at all once she got to the trail. Put on your thinking cap engineer…</p>
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<p>The road in front of our local elementary school becomes a parking lot for the half-hour around when school lets out. Parents have decided they’ll just park in the middle of the road. And the police don’t do a thing about it… they just sit there and watch!</p>
<p>There are lots of reasons why someone might need accessible parking. Some people need spaces that are wider than average to accommodate wheelchair lifts. Those same people might not need to be close to the door, as they may be wheelchair athletes who have no problems with long distances.</p>
<p>Another family might need proximity to the door, because a family member is prone to heat exhaustion and needs to move into the airconditioning quickly, but they don’t need the wider space at all.</p>
<p>A third family might have an active child with autism, who can happily run along the trail but isn’t safe in the parking lot. </p>
<p>And so on. </p>
<p>Of course, it would be ridiculous to have 20 kinds of accessible parking. There would be no room left for the rest of us. So, they make one type, or sometimes two, wide handicapped space, and regular width ones, that can accommodate everyone – wide, close to the door, away from traffic, etc . . . . Yes, sometimes an individual with a disability will get an advantage they don’t need – a wide spot when they would do fine with narrow, but overall, combining spaces benefits everyone.</p>
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Well many isn’t all by a long shot. Certainly not adopted here in NY. And existing buildings don’t have to be brought up to current code in any event unless they have extensive renovations. (I have yet to work on a residential project where there are sprinklers in the building.)</p>
<p>Even with a good sprinkler system, a fire crew & additional water is still needed to douse the fire.</p>
<p>[Fire:</a> Sprinkler system helps fight flames inside local business | 911 | Ballard News](<a href=“http://ballard.komonews.com/news/911/748157-fire-sprinkler-system-helps-fight-flames-inside-local-business]Fire:”>http://ballard.komonews.com/news/911/748157-fire-sprinkler-system-helps-fight-flames-inside-local-business)</p>
<p>The OP should stop by his local firehouse and ask the firefighters on duty why there isn’t parking in front of fire hydrants. I have no doubt that they would explain it to him quite thoroughly.</p>