Seat belts are a must for street sweepers and the trailing ticket givers
Q. Honk: Are certain drivers exempt from wearing seat belts? Where I live in Anaheim both the street-sweeper driver and the driver in the trailing vehicle that gives out parking tickets NEVER wear their seat belts. Do they have a special exemption so that they do not have to wear them?
– Stanley Zubas, Anaheim
A. No.
Shane Spielman, a motorcycle officer with your fine town, said everyone needs to wear a seat belt, including his peers.
“Seat belts must be worn at all times unless for tactical situations/considerations,” he said about Anaheim officers.
For a terrific reason.
Ask any reporter at a newspaper or other news outlet who covers traffic accidents the value of strapping on your seat belt before pushing off from the curb – the ones without belts never seem to survive serious accidents.
Q. Dear Honk: We enjoy your column always, our only complaint is you’re not daily. My question is, though it’s not your regular area of expertise, can you find out what all the military helicopter activity going west to east and back is? From Brookhurst Street on the Anaheim/Garden Grove border, the helicopters appear to run above Katella Avenue as far as the eye can see. The activity seems to pick up in the spring and in the summer. Thank you for any effort you can supply.
– Bill Parchman, Garden Grove
A. Honk doesn’t have an agent, Bill. Have some extra time? (Bargain hard – we both could use a few more coins jingling in our pockets, yes?)
As to the helicopters …
Honk contacted the Anaheim Police Department, which has three helicopters and a plane.
Bryan Santy, the sergeant of the air unit and one of its pilots, passed along through a police spokesman that the stretch is the takeoff and approach route for the Joint Forces Training Base – Los Alamitos.
Honk’s next stop: Col. Rick Lalor of the California National Guard, the base’s spokesman.
The Guard and U.S. Army Reserve together have a few dozen UH-60 Black Hawks at Los Al, he said.
The birds hit the skies for training, missions and flights to ensure the fancy flying machines are in good shape.
“I don’t know if you could put a specific time of the year on it,” the colonel said.
He added the pilots do try to avoid bothering residents: “We make every effort to fly friendly.”
Honkin’ Twitter: If you want to keep Honk with you at all times, or at least with your cellphone, you can find him at @OCRegisterHonk.
Honkin’ fact: Since 1921, there have been 189 in-the-line-of-duty deaths of workers for Caltrans and the state agency’s predecessor. Working on a highway building or maintaining our transportation system is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Source: Caltrans).
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk.