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I had the wonderful "pleasure" of witnessing 3 police officers from the Town of Black Mountain take it upon themselves to harass the citizens of this town at the local Ingles Grocery Store. There were 4 or 5 cars parked in the "fire lane" (which runs from one end of the store to the other, which is about 3 football fields in length). The officers were walking up to cars and looking in them to see if anyone was in them, the one gentleman who was getting into his car (which was blocked in) was told; "Maybe if you didn't park illegally you wouldn't be blocked in". Since I was in a hurry myself, I failed to point out to all three officers that they were also parked illegally. I also spoke to the manager inside and asked if he had called them to come and "police" the grounds, he said "no".
If you have been to Black Mountain, you would know immediately that it is not a large city (that's why it is the "Town of...") so to see three officers, meant that there was maybe one out patrolling. Oh and Officers in case you did not notice there were 20 or so open parking spots next to my car...which was 5 feet from your cars. Next time let Ingles deal with the "Wrong doers" as the their signage says; "Car will be towed at owner's expense." Thanks for wasting time and money boys.
How about people not parking in the fire lanes, and then everybody will be better off. Especially if there is an emergency. That also goes for the people that park in the space reserved for "Parents with Children" and they don't have kids with them.
@RVT; in a better world perhaps, but as I mentioned there is more than enough room for 10 firetrucks and there is more than one entrance to the store. My point was actually about the Law breaking Enforcement Officers...should they just do as they please and then tell us to follow the very rules that they have no problem breaking. It just seems a little arrogant, not to mention illegal...
I have to second RVT, there should simply be NO parking in the fire lane and I can't see the problem of using a regular parking spot.
Even if there would still be enough room for 5 firetrucks ... how many cars are too many to block the store front ? 2, 5, 9 ?
I think, the gentleman was lucky, he did not get a ticket and I can't see the harassment either.
here we have policemen on bikes passing shopping centers all a the time and I honestly think, whoever thinks he has to park in the fire line can hopefully afford it.
why it would take a couple of police cars to take care of that ... don't know, maybe they were about starting their lunch break ... or wanted to look more impressive
+1 for RVT. The rules (red zone no parking) are there to benefit everyone. The people parking there feel there rules are for everyone else except them. The red zones don't say No Parking Except for John. They mean No Parking for everyone and are they are there to allow emergency response.
The people parking illegally are not only inconsiderate to their neighbors and community but they are also violating the law. They were in the wrong and the officers were in the right to bring that to the offenders' attention.
WNCer, you need to know that the officers are exempt from the red zone No Parking law when engaged in enforcement activity. That's what they were doing. They wern't parked there while shopping at the store. They wern't parked there while chatting with each other. They were parked there while using their discretion to warn the offenders as they were hired to do.
Even if there was additional room for emergency vehicles to park, it's no justification for anyone to violate the law. People who have studied the need for the No Parking zone have determined that the entire area needs to be a red zone. If you, WNCer think otherwise, then change the law. Get yourself voted into office, or vote a like-minded person into office, who will change the Red Zone requirements in your town. In the meantime, obey the law.
Something else that you may not have considered is the issue of access. Many emergency vehicles are large and difficult to maneuver. There are also issues of blind spots that make it difficult to see obstructions. With cars parked along the Red Zone, it makes their access, turning and parking more difficult when the have to try to avoid pedestrians walking from between the parked cars and pull to the curb. It adds additional dely to call that oftentimes involves a life-threatening event.
If the emergency responders had to deal with illegally parked cars, I wonder if your next complaint would be about the long pumper truck blocking the driveway when they had to leave the back end of the truck sticking out from the curb. I don't want to speak for you. It's just a thought that comes to my mind.
WNCer, I'm sad to say but I think you're entirely wrong on this issue. Of course, you're allowed to your opinion and I commend you on your courage for expressing it. However, I do think that you showed wise discretion with not addressing your opinion to the officers when you left he store. The officers' job can be difficult enough throughout the day when they are engaged in legal activities without being needless harassed while they are doing the job that they are paid to do.
If a Black Mountain police officer ever reads this thread and my post . . . Good Job Guys! Thank you for doing your job and please know that there are people out here who appreciate your work and dedication - both in the performance of small duties and during the occasional life-threatening big incidents.
Although an issue like Red Zone parking violations can be a minor issue at first blush, it can quickly become a negative factor during bigger events. Keep up the good work and again, Thank You!
Kudos to the Black Mountain police! I wish this law was enforced more often in more places. Just like the OP states, there were at least 20 parking spots nearby, yet people are too lazy or too selfish to use them. All those people should have received tickets, even if someone was sitting in the car.
My grandfather was with the fire department in another town years ago, he was also with the fire commissioners, so I sympathize with anything to do with fire safety, fire access, not to mention respect for those men and women who do a heroic job every day. But if someone still wants to disregard the fire department's needs, I'll give a reason for the needs of law violaters not to park in a fire zone. I was watching TV one day, and in order to get the firetruck hoses to a hydrant that had a car illegally parked in front of it, they had to bust out the windows of the car and run their hoses thru that car.
In addition, I have personally seen a few fire scenes, and the space used for official vehicles during a fire emergency is unimaginable. Sometimes not only will all the local trucks show up, but if it's a four-alarm fire, for example, nearby town trucks come, and then there's all the ambulances to take out folks who are either burned or almost dead from smoke inhallation, and then automatically police show up to keep order, help truck ingress and egress, tape off the area from people, assist towers in removing problematic personal vehicles in the area, and then there's got to be room for a mass of fire hoses and the dozens upon dozens of personnel in each of the emergency vehicles, and it all needs to be right smack in front of the burning building.
Also, other things to consider are, sometimes if you have a fire in one building, it can spread to another and another, plus lives can be lost in a matter of minutes because flame and smoke can fill an entire building like a grocery store in an unbelievably short length of time, and so if ANYTHING gets in the way of those firemen, the loss simply does not outweigh a carpark convenience, becuz a person's elderly mother, a child who gets lost in the smoke, a pregnant wife of a war veteran, they can all die...in minutes, like I said.
Now, unlike others here, I do NOT appreciate someone whining about the fire department. Apparently people who do so were still in diapers when we had 9/11 and nearly 4,000 lives were lost in two burning buildings in lower Manhattan, and many of those victims included entire fire departments. Civilians in those buildings CHOSE to jump out of 100+ story windows just to get away from the fire, so how would that be different in an Ingles grocery store? And all those arguments made in the original post about how easy it would have been for a bunch of trucks to park in the lot elsewhere, well, it works both ways, so I say give way to a fireman trying to save lives.
I also say GOOD for the police, too, sometimes dull-normal folk or people in a big dang hurry have got to have it spelled out to them: White lines marking car parking spots are where customers go, because the whole front of the store is for emergency vehicles. And one more thing, I also had one great grandfather who was chief of police and another the sheriff of the county, and to argue with a cop is typically only done by swill and thugs, and arrogant people who apparently don't realize they can be put in jail in a heartbeat for interfering with policework. I want an apology from the original poster for all my grandfathers and all the firepeople who gave their lives on 9/11, and I don't want to see no more trash up in here thrown at the police and fire people. This is a travel forum, for crying out loud.
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... or wanted to look more impressive 
