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Kokua Line
Question: Auwe to those young people taking seats in the front of the bus designated for the elderly. They are rude, rude people, who can see an old man swaying in front of them, yet they won't stand up. What can we do? Young should give
bus seats to elderlyAnswer: It's true that certain front bus seats are designated for the elderly and people with disabilities, and they are marked by decals on windows and by bus advertising cards above the seats.
Certain seats, which can be flipped up, are meant to accommodate wheelchairs.
However, even though a city ordinance says it is a violation to refuse to vacate such priority seats, bus drivers are not required to force passengers to obey the law, said J. Roger Morton, senior vice president/director of operations for Oahu Transit Services, which runs TheBus system.
The city ordinance is worded similarly to a federal law, he said.
"Sadly," Morton said, that policy reflects "a sign of our times" in which "enforcement can lead to altercation and even assault."
OTS's internal rules call for drivers, "upon identifying a passenger in need of a seat, or upon request by a passenger," to ask someone to vacate one of the designated seats "on a voluntary basis," he said.
"Bus operators are instructed to be assertive in the request, but are not required to enforce the priority seat rule in the face of another passenger's refusal to move," Morton said.
On some occasions, drivers have requested police assistance and police have intervened in some cases, he said.
Q: I live on Uwau Drive in Aiea. Just before midnight on Sunday, Sept. 3, there was another incident where police were given the wrong name and house number about a disturbance on the street. The disturbance was coming from an entirely different address. I don't believe it was a mistake. I can understand if it happened only once, but this has happened 7 times. Why haven't the callers to 911 been arrested or talked to? I thought such action was criminal. Also, aren't 911 callers known because 911 calls can never be blocked and are permanently recorded even if callers don't say who they are? How many more times do we have to put up with this?
A: Records show one call that night relating to a noise complaint on Uwau Street and the caller did not give a specific address, according to Honolulu police Capt. William Chur, of the Communications Division.
If prank or harassing calls are made to 911, "we would look into the matter ... There are laws dealing with false reporting and things like that and we could go after the culprits," he said.
"But in this particular case, there is nothing to indicate that there was anything irregular going on," Chur said.
While calls to 911 from "regular telephones" can be traced to a number and name, records aren't kept forever, so tracking them down would depend on the time frame, Chur said. Also, he noted, such calls are confidential, so while police may have access to records, they would not generally be released.
You should file a complaint with police if you feel you are being harassed.
Mahalo
To a good Samaritan named Al. My daughter and I left my brother's house in Makaha on Sunday, Aug. 6. After we passed all the service stations and got near the freeway, we had a flat tire. I'm 79 and was really scared. Thank God for Al. He fixed the tire in no time and wouldn't take any money. -- Senior Citizen and her daughter
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
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