Dear Mahatma: I live in an area of Little Rock noted for hilly and curvy streets. On more than one occasion I have almost been hit head-on because of people who park their big boats on the street. Does the city code address the parking of boats and trailers on neighborhood streets? -- Ahoy Mate
Dear Mate: Jack Wrenn is the city's parking enforcement coordinator. He cheerfully goes by "the most hated man in Little Rock." That's a direct quote. From him.
The city has an ordinance, but it applies only to tractor-trailers. Boats, Wrenn said, must be parked legally the same as any other vehicle.
Our only contribution to the debate is to suggest a call to your city director. Propose a change in the ordinance to include boats and their trailers.
Dear Mahatma: Do I need a special hunting license to shoot bridge weight signs? I've noticed a number of these shot-up signs, especially in rural areas. What is the daily limit for shooting signs? May I take my 5-year-old? Is there a special shooting season for youngsters? He has a 20-gauge shotgun and a four-wheeler. -- Dick Cheney
Dear Mr. Cheney: We asked the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to tell us how much it spends to replace shot-up signs of all kinds.
Turns out the agency doesn't separate out costs for small sign damage. It recycles the signs, sells them for scrap aluminum and uses the proceeds for new metal for new signs.
Now to crime and punishment. The Drivetime Legal Department, whose chief attorney got his law degree off a box of Lucky Charms, researched the code. At least one law may apply to the shooting up of a highway sign, although we advise caution and a big ol' grain of salt.
Criminal mischief in the first degree, Arkansas Code Annotated 5-38-203, occurs when someone "purposely and without legal justification destroys or causes damage" to the property of another.
Oh Mr. Mahatma: We come to a traffic light in the left-turn lane. The light turns green -- a ball not an arrow -- and no one inches into the intersection to turn left when the traffic thins out. In California, we always went about two car lengths into the intersection. We were able to turn left as the light turned yellow. What is the rule on this? -- Hot Springs Village
Dear HSV: What you do is what truckers call owning the intersection. The rule in question -- Arkansas Code Annotated 27-51-1302 -- is titled "Stopping, standing, or parking prohibited in specified places." Oh, the places in which you shouldn't stop include "within an intersection." Pull out, wait before turning left as traffic passes by and you are, indeed, stopping.
The Arkansas Driver License Study Guide translates. "Drivers may not enter an intersection unless they can get through it without having to stop. You should wait until traffic clears, so that you are not blocking the intersection."
Mahatma@arkansasonline.com
Metro on 07/09/2016