VAS License Plates on a Non-Emergency Vehicle

2scents:

1. You haven’t responded to my last comment. Can you address the points I raised?

2. I just noticed this comment you made 6 months ago, on the below thread, saying you aren’t a member of Hatzalah since you were denied membership. What changed, as you now indicate you are a member?

http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/joining-hatzalah

Shlishi – 2scents, never said once in this thread which organization he volunteers for.

Every so often I check on this post to see just how stupid it is. Arguing over the internet is like running in the special Olympics, whether you win or lose you’re still retarded.

Syag, was that for me?? Sorry. Too many internet memes bouncing around in my head. I shouldn’t call anyone in this argument retarded. Its an insult to retarded people everywhere.

CAD – thanks,apology accepted 🙂

Popa-

I clicked on this thread because syag was on it.

so not

I agree with Jackness.

than I can assume I don’t

You probably misread my tone, I thought it was pretty funny.

🙂 <- that means ‘read with smirk or smile’

(I should add taamei mikra but I don’t have davka writer)

oh, sorry

umm i think my point was missed, but that wasnt meant to be posted.

Syah- i did click on this thread cuz ur sn was as last poster

uhoh 🙂

but thanks. You were right here, it is fun to derail tense threads into random convo

I am not sure if anyone from this post will read this now but since I never used this site until now I want to clarify a few things about this topic.

1) VAS plates do not give you any privilege but yo are correct, traffic officers look the other way for parking, That being said, there are many abuse of parking, mainly in Brooklyn with all sorts of vehicles, that are a major Chillul Hashem(desecration of G-D).

Saying that they are abusing privileges is wrong on this issue since you are allowed to park at most locations with the PLACAD, not the plates. Where abuse DOES come in, is when they turn the placard over and cover the borough the placard covers so they can park in Manhattan or Queens if they are a Brooklyn member. The placards are meant for the volunteer to park close by to go on calls. If you are going into the city for dinner or a show, when you are no going on a call, yes, then you are abusing the privilege and relying on the fact that the police and traffic PD will not issue tickets when they see that. Many cops will though look at placards that are upside down, So beware!

What is being abused or plain stupid, is the ORANGE EZ pass covers. Yes, it is not illegal because it is a cover, but there is no reason to use it unless you are trying to pretend you are a cop. Keep in mind, it is much thicker than the real EZ pass so most cops if they look no it is fake and you open the door for criminal impersonation. Having them and parking at a fire hydrant to run into schul is a big chutzpa because as a first responder, you should understand even more so, that yo put lives at risk if there were to be a fire and your vehicle is blocking the fire hydrant. There is no excuse to be at a fire hydrant. ZERO!

It is however legal to park at a fire hydrant if you are IN your vehicle under the DMV code during the day, so double parking in front of one because you worry about a ticket is plain stupid because double parking is an automatic ticket. Unfortunately, in flatbush and boro park, it is abused by many, not just by VAS plat holders.

As for the lights and sirens, it is an infraction to have them on if you are not authorized in doing so and a crime to use them to commit a crime. If you use them to go through lights, in theory you are not breaking any penal code but an infraction under the VTL code. But a cop can arrest you and make you go through the system just to make you pay.

I hope that clears this up!

If the point being made by some here that VAS plates are nothing more than a vanity plate entitling the bearer no more parking or driving privileges than any other run of the mill driver without any special plate is to be accepted (much like NY Volunteer Firefighter vanity license plates on a private vehicle simply mean the car owner happens to be a volunteer firefighter but that this private vehicle is not necessarily used for that purpose and is entitled to no privileges and the same with Army Veteran plates or Dentist or Physician vanity plates), then by extension that argument can be naturally extended to meaning that there is no objections to someone temporarily joining a tiny volunteer ambulance service for a very short period so he can qualify for VAS plates (which is nothing more than vanity anyways).

To all Those that were talking about Hatzalah members parking illegally. If you actually read the placard it says something to the effect of: this vehicle is able to park in a authorized personnel only spot or no parking spot because it is an emergency vehicle and has to be accessible at a moments notice in the case of an emergency. So they are actually legally able to park in a “illegal” parking spot. This is only about New York Hatzalah. I do not know about Lakewood Hatzalah.
VAS plates do not offer any benefits and are available to any member of a volunteer ambulance organization, regardless of their medical training. Whereas EMT or EMT-P plates are only available to those who have the certification a EMT or paramedic (EMT-P)just like MD plates are only available to those who have a PhD in medicine.