Panhandlers creating a traffic hazard

Dick Doyle

Thursday, April 9, 2009 | midnight

Maybe it's because I'm getting old and perhaps it's also because I'm a bit lazy. I see a lot of things around our valley that ought to be a concern of people in authority but aren't. For example: Who is in charge of people who stand in traffic while the lights are red and then scramble to the curb when the light changes to green?

When the light's red, these people stand in traffic holding small (part of the marketing thrust, I presume) hardly-legible signs telling motorists that the sign holders are hungry, need work, want beer money, are facing bankruptcy, have returned from vacation penniless and a variety of other messages.

Who gives them the OK to stand in traffic? If I manage to run one of these people over, will I be liable?

I saw one of these people in traffic last week, in the same lane as a Metro police car and nothing happened. The guy scrambled back to the sidewalk when the light changed and the police car moved on. I guess standing in traffic is OK.

Then there are the people with (1) no rear license plate or (2) an out-of-state plate on which the tags have expired. I know the legislators in Carson City are scrambling to find "new" sources of revenue. Hey, people, why not go after sources you conjured up years ago?

License plates are required on cars. That's the law. And, out-of-state car owners are required to convert to Nevada registration shortly after they move here. Some have but, from what I understand, many, many motorists/new residents have not.

The city of Las Vegas recently tried to get people to pay their long-outstanding traffic tickets and some did, but most did not. Now there are arrest warrants out for the scofflaws. Maybe we should contact the sheriff of Mojave County, Ariz., to build Las Vegas a tent city and send the arrestees there! No license plate on the back of your car? Out of state expired tags? Both OK I guess.

I'm going to look at this more carefully and have some additional comments in a future column.

•••

I wonder who selects the music that's played in supermarkets while you shop? I am beginning to believe that whoever selects the tapes has never been here. Country-western music in Summerlin supermarket? Classical in southwest Las Vegas?

When Muzak was in business, elevator music was tuned to the demographics of where the elevator operated. Now Muzak is gone and the elevators are silent.

Maybe people who shop to the sounds of screechy singers of today should complain more. I've been told by several store managers they have no control over the music played over their sound system and both their complaints and those of shoppers aren't heard.

I am also concerned for my neighbors who have been forced to cut back on their health care in this down economy. These folks, who are your neighbors, too, are endangering themselves, their families and their friends as well as themselves.

More than 53 percent of Americans are in this category. What to do? Talk to your doctor. Call your HMO or PPO. Cut a deal. Your physician won't abandon you. That's the promise he or she took when they received their MD.

Without your health, you're not in a position to make rational decisions for yourself or your loved ones. Don't delay that doctor visit or that follow-up. Don't skip that blood test. Get that prescription filled. Need help? Here are three phone numbers at which you can obtain referrals and get healthcare assistance: Four hospitals, including Sunrise Children's Hospital, are at 233-5300; St. Rose Dominican referrals are at 616-4508 and the five-hospital Valley Health System can be reached at 388-4888. No question or request goes unanswered, they all tell me.

Dick Doyle, a community volunteer and former newspaper editor, is a columnist for the Home News. He can be reached c/o the Home News, 2360 Corporate Circle, Third Floor, Henderson, NV 89074; by fax at 434-3527 or e-mail at [email protected].