LR patrols sometimes on request

LITTLE ROCK — Dear Mahatma: I work downtown and see numerous traffic violations — driving the wrong way on a one-way street, turning left from the right lane of a one-way street, cruising through red lights as if they don’t exist. The police would reap huge revenue and even prevent accidents, rather than having speed traps on Napa Valley. — Downtown Driver

Dear Downtown: Napa Valley happens to be one of the streets about which people complain to this column. And also to the Little Rock Police Department, apparently, if you’re seeing lots of enforcement there.

That’s because traffic enforcement is very much driven by request or complaint. If you want enforcement downtown, call the downtown patrol division at 918-5135 and say pretty please. But remember two things.

First, that enforcement is fleeting. Here today, responding to other complaints tomorrow.

Second, ask not for whom the ticket is written, it may be written for thee. Meaning people ask for enforcement in the areas they frequent. Putting themselves, and their driving inadequacies, in view of the police.

Footnote: Every weekday on Page 2B of this newspaper is a list of the radar speed checks in Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski County. There may — believe it — be radar checks in other locations.

Dear Mahatma: Can you help a downtown pedestrian? (No, I don’t need you to give me money.) What should a pedestrian do when properly crossing at an intersection and an inattentive driver stops for the red light but blocks the crosswalk entirely? Evil glare or kick a fender? — Faithful Reader

Dear Faith: Thank you for not asking for change. The Mahatma has been panhandled by the same guy at least a dozen times this fall. Give it up, fella.

Now, about those drivers who screech into the crosswalk and nearly run you down.

There are really two nonviolent options. The first is to walk across the street making an exaggerated detour of the miscreant’s vehicle. Saunter, so as to add sarcasm.

Perhaps a better thing is to turn, smile and give a peppy wave. Be nice. As it says in the Good Book — the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices — a soft answer turneth away road rage.

Dear Mahatma: If I am stopped at a red light waiting to turn right into the lane closest to me, and the oncoming traffic toward me is turning left, must I yield to someone who is trying to turn left into the lane closest to me? — Gary

Dear Gary: Lt. Carl Minden of the Pulaski County sheriff’s office says that if you’re stopped at a red light, waiting to make a right turn, and oncoming traffic is turning left, that oncoming traffic should have a green arrow. In which case it has the right of way.

You can turn right on red, but only after the lanes are clear of traffic can the turn be made safely and legally.

Mahatma@arkansasonline.com