LITTLE ROCK — Dear Mahatma: I am a disabled Vietnam veteran and have DV tags on both my vehicles. I was recently parked in a handicapped spot at McCain Mall when a woman approached.
She wanted me to move and berated me loudly.
When I told her I was a disabled vet, she said: “You should have been killed.” Please pass the word that DV tags can park in handicapped spaces. - Disabled Veteran.
Dear Vet: Holy Huah!
That was some kind of ugly you unfortunately encountered. It’s one thing to not know that folks with a DV plate can park in a handicapped spot. It’s another thing - shameful, wretched, disgraceful - to act in such a manner.
Deepest admiration for your restraint.
To make a long statute short, Arkansas Code 27-15-316 allows vehicles with DV plates to park in handicapped spots.
The vehicle must display the DV plate issued by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration or by another state. And the vehicle must be in use for the actual transporting of a disabled veteran.
Dear Mahatma: I travel several states. Oklahoma has more ethanol-free gasoline stations than most others, and I try to remember where they are. I toyed with the idea of starting a website that would place those stations on a map.
- Richard.
Dear Richard: Too late.
Rummage around the web, and you’ll find several.
For instance, pure-gas. org claims to have a list of 1,641 gas stations that sell fuel without ethanol. That includes 58 in Arkansas. It’s run by a guy in Wisconsin and says readers can add to the list.
Dear Mahatma: Can you educate readers on what to do when confronted with an octagonal red sign with the word “Stop” printed on it? I was nearly creamed five times recently by drivers who don’t know or care what that sign means. My nerves would greatly appreciate it. - Frau Blucher.
Dear Frau: Do you know what state law says about stop signs? Only that the word “STOP” must have letters no less than 8 inches high. And it must be luminous, so that it can be seen at night. They’re hard to miss, huh?
What should happen when a driver encounters a stop sign? He should “yield the right-of-way to any vehicle which has entered the intersection from another highway or which is approaching so closely on the highway as to constitute an immediate hazard.”
That, dear Frau, would be you.
Now, about your nerves.
Some varm milk, perhaps?
Dear Sir: Your columns are always informative.
Your references show you’re not making things up as some people may think. I for one believe every single word in your columns. - West Memphis Reader.
Dear West Memphis: Thanks for writing.
Questions are edited, as was yours. But they all come from the wonderful people who read this newspaper.
Bless their hearts.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 09/25/2010