Hi: I saw a person riding in the open bed of a pickup. Is there a law prohibiting this? I seem to remember this is not permitted. -- Dennis
Dear Dennis: The best legal minds in the newsroom scoured the code and came up with Arkansas Code Annotated 27-35-104, "Riding in spaces not for passengers."
It says this: "No person shall ride on any vehicle upon any portion of the vehicle not designed or intended for the use of passengers." Is the bed of a pickup intended for use by passengers? If it were, it would have seat belts and air bags and head restraints and ... seats.
Mamas, don't let your children ride in the back of moving pickups. Make them be doctors and lawyers and such.
Dear Mahatma: Do warning tickets become part of one's driving record? If so, is there an appeal process? -- Ron
Dear Ron: Tonie Shields is the administrator of the Office of Driver Services.
She said that if law enforcement sends to her office the warning tickets for underage cellphone use, texting while driving or not having required vehicle insurance, those warnings are posted to the driver's history. These postings may be viewed only by law enforcement or the courts. They cannot be viewed by insurance companies or employers who may check a driver's record with the driver's permission.
Is there an appeal process? In the matter of warning tickets, there is no need for an appeal, since they aren't posted to a driver's official record.
But there is an appeal process for actual tickets. It's described in Arkansas Code Annotated 27-50-905. Boils down to this: Drivers have a right to contest the accuracy of what's on their record. Copious details follow.
Dear Highways and Byways Guru: No one seems to know how to use that turn signal thingy. We surmise the ones we see flashing must have come from the factory that way. -- Grateful Reader
Dear Grateful: You write from Hot Springs Village, where all the stand-up comics go to retire.
When we're down in the dumps because of bad driving behavior, we like to read that uplifting piece of literature known as the Arkansas Driver License Study Guide. Page 32 includes the poetry of turn signals.
Drivers should use turn signals when changing lanes, turning right or left, merging into traffic or parking.
Try to signal at least 100 feet before making a change.
Be careful not to signal too early. There may be streets, driveways or entrances between you and the intended turn.
After you have made a turn or lane change, make sure your turn signal is off, Grandpa.
The Mahatma's new vehicle has a feature to solve this problem. When the turn signal is left on for a certain, long, period of time, there's a ding-ding-ding. Great idea.
Vanity plate seen on a Camaro parked at the Chicken Express in Arkadelphia: O2BNHSV. (Oh, to be in Hot Springs Village.)
Mahatma@arkansasonline.com
Metro on 08/08/2015