In response to a controversial ticket issued to a Chaveirim volunteer for fixing a Hatzolah member’s flat tire on the Palisades Interstate Parkway Wednesday, Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) vowed to work with elected officials to address the issue and prevent this situation from recurring.
“It’s very unfortunate that a Chaveirim volunteer, who went out of his way to help a fellow volunteer from Hatzolah, was penalized for being a good Samaritan,” Assemblyman Hikind said. “This cannot be permitted to happen again, and in the future, it is imperative we use a common-sense approach when analyzing these types of situations.”
Hikind reached out to Chaveirim founder Rabbi Aron Kohn to reassure him that he would fight, with the help of elected officials in New Jersey, to rectify the situation.
“As always, we applaud both volunteer services for their continued hard work and dedication to ensuring a better, safer community,” Hikind added. “It pains me, however, to see someone being issued a ticket for helping another in need. We will do all we can to ensure that this mishap doesn’t become customary.”
At around 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, a member of Hatzolah pulled into a rest stop within the Palisades Parkway after realizing he had a flat tire. In noticing the situation, a Chaveirim volunteer began to work on fixing the flat tire until an officer approached the two and issued a summons to the Chaveirim volunteer for an “unauthorized service vehicle,” prompting Assemblyman Hikind to call for mandatory sensitivity training.
“If I had the flat tire and someone helping me was issued a ticket, I would be outraged to see someone’s kindness repaid with a summons,” Hikind said. “In our community, and all throughout America, we take pride in volunteering, and to penalize a volunteer by issuing them a ticket demonstrates a lack of sensitivity. With the proper sensitivity training, we can prevent these types of situations from happening again.”
(YWN Desk – NYC)
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8 Responses
If you are driving along the highway and are getting hungry, would you stop at a local restaurant and sit down at one of their tables and pull out your tuna fish sandwich and have dinner? If you pull into a gas station with a flat tire, have the gas station employees change the tire. That’s the rule along the Palisades parkway and was a commitment made to the gas station owners when bidding on the Parkway service concession.
The person who got the ticket was not being a Good Samaritan. He was being a good Jew. Hmmmmm … Maybe, C”V, that’s why he got the ticket.
This happened on Tuesday night
Meshuga!
Dov! Always good to have you watch over our back! Whenever there is an issue it’s good to know you won’t shy away from sticking up for our rights, common sense and dignity!
With all due respect to Assemblyman Hikind, why is he getting involved when the ticket was issued on the part of the Palisades Parkway that is in New Jersey? What sensitivity training is needed? If the motorist himself is not allowed to fix his tire than you can’t say a Good Samaritan is allowed to. Unless there is more to video that shows that the officer said something or did something inappropriate it is within his jurisdiction to issue a ticket. Go to court and fight it and let the judge decide. It is not an issue for a NY lawmaker to fight.
Is a person allowed to fix their own flat tire in a rest stop?
It is not a “rest stop” like on the NJ Tpke or the GSP. It is a gas station with a small convenience store and has few parking spots. If I remember correctly the Palisades has signs that state “emergency repair by permit only”.