In The Pits Forum Board

I hope I can clarify a few of the issues some of you are having. The police officers that are out there are off-duty police officers being employed by Lakeside to provide security. The Chief can't help your complaint. I do agree that the handicapped parking spaces do need to be addressed, but that is on a long list of other things that could also be better out there. The response from the officer regarding the need for the National Guard for all the DUI's is true. You may not have liked his attitude, but he was right. Who would you hate more for the DUI Checkpoint across the railroad tracks more Lakeside Speedway or the Police Department? Probably both if you are the one who forgot to bring a designated driver. A handful of officers paid by the racetrack cannot police every issue with thousands of fans and drivers.

It's a typical race track deal, until there's ANOTHER death in the parking lot
or on the way out the gate to 435 then everyone will be all sorrowful & be
reactive instead of proactive.

If the security officers are off duty police officers then shouldn't they have different uniforms? When they are in uniform they are representing the police department that they work for. Just my opinion, but, you can't have it both ways

My post was not to upset anyone, but to find out what the difference is between a seasonal small business like Lakeside and a big box store like Wal-Mart? Why treat them different? If you call one you should call all of them. Are you not going to spend your $$ at Wal-Mart if they give you the same answer?

Each State has laws that differ on how many Handicap Parking Spaces a business has to provide. Most use a 1% or 2% per thousand to determine how many spots to provide. Let’s figure on the High side of what Kansas Laws state and go with 2% per 1,000 parking stalls. I’m not sure how many stalls Lakeside reports, but I ‘d say they have at least a thousand and that would mean they have to provide 20 stalls for Handicap. From what I looked at I’d say the have more than 20 stalls for Handicap parking. I‘d say Lakeside does provide adequate parking for the Handicap, but think a lot of people abuse this privilege and it takes away from those who really need it. If someone has a Handicap Permit then they can use this space, but the question is do they really need it!

For the record I don’t have a disability, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what people with disabilities go through. 30 yrs ago my Dad was diagnosed with cancer in his leg just below the knee. At the time the best thing to do was have the leg amputated. I was 11yrs old and was devastated to find out my dad was only going to have one leg and be Handicap for life. I was so worried he’d never be normal again. I was so wrong! Does my Dad have a disability…..yes….. but don’t tell him that! Does he let it affect what he does in life….. no and never has. To be quite honest I don’t think it ever will. Dad does have bad days with his leg, but you won’t see him look for pity or look for anything from anyone. He deals with it and life goes on with his life.

Dad will be 70 in a few years and has never once applied for a Handicap parking permit. My family has encouraged him to apply for one now that he’s getting older, but to be honest with you I think he prides himself by not having to use the Handicap parking. I have mixed emotions on if he should get one or not. On one hand he can do what he wants, but on the other I don’t want to see him struggle one day when he really might need it.

I base my feelings from the experiences I’ve had over the years watching people abuse Handicap parking! I’ve been with Dad many times from the time I was a kid to present when he just drives by handicap parking to a spot a few hundred yards or feet down the line to find a spot to park. I don’t want to sound cynical, but the world has to many lazy people who abuse this privilege and feel pity on themselves and think they deserve to park in these spots.

My biggest bitching point is people who’ve created disabilities for themselves and use Handicap Parking as a way of trying to make life easier for something they did to themselves! I won’t go into who I think should and shouldn’t park in Handicap Parking as it might offend someone and that isn’t what I want to do, but in my opinion 50% of people who use Handicap parking shouldn’t be using it. I’d like to be more critical, but again if I did I’m sure I would offend more than one person.

Last Friday night I was standing behind the Handicap seating area in the stands at Lakeside and a gentleman caught my attention. From what I could tell he’s paralyzed from the neck down and has a High Tech wheel chair he controls by blowing into little air tubes. I watched him most of the time during the Grand National race. He maneuvered his chair with only a breath of air and did it with such precision I found myself glued to watching him between cautions. I started thinking how much work it must have taken to learn how to use his chair and thought it would be neat to use a chair like his. After thinking about it for a second I was thinking how he must think about walking around like everyone around him. I really admire this gentleman for making it out to the races and not letting his handicap keep him down. This Gentlemen is someone I feel should have a reserved parking spot in the Handicap areas.

My suggestions if you see someone without a Handicap Tag parking in the Handicap areas is to just say something to them. Dad tells me I’m to confrontational, but I like to make a point and put people on the spot. I don't suggest getting into a argument with them just let them know you know they shouldn’t be parking there. Our society is so afraid of what might happen to us if we say something, but look what happens if we don’t say something!


K

krofore,I totally agree with everything you said and i commend your father for his pride.I to get upset when i see people abuse handicap parking.How many people have we seen at "Walmart" and other places get out of a car with absolutly no "appearance" of a handicap BUT see a person sitting in the car that deffinately has a handicap??That person that got of the car is breaking the laws of Kansas.But if the person left in the car gets out then that makes parking there perfectly legal.It appears that now days the "old" formula for deciding on how many spaces there should be needs to be changed.I never knew just how many handicap placards there are out there until i too needed one.What made me upset with the situation at Lakeside was the attitude of A couple cops there.I would park at the extreme east end of the handicap area NOT in anyones way or bothering anyone and was told I COULD NOT park there because of that damn pile of dirt there.YET everytime that happend when i came out after the races I would see atleast 2-3 cars or trucks parked there!! Thats what pissed me off...

In kansas and missouri police officers wear their uniform while working off duty because they are being hired as police. They have full and unrestricted police authority. Private security does not have that much authority. Those officers at lakeside can make arrests, take police reports, and everything else that law enforcement officers have the authority to do. Private security doesn't. Exactly the same at the chiefs, royals, public schools, kansas speedway, etc. If you treat them as so called rent a cops, you will not like the outcome of your experience.

If that is the case then perhaps they should do their job as a police officer and enforce the handicap parking laws and whatever infractions they witness including DUI's. Just my opinion but you can't have it both ways

How in the hell does anyone get drunk at lakeside??? I didnt know that was possible on that watered down 3.2 kansas beer. You kansans must be lightweights I dont think I could get drunk on that crap if I tried.

Really??? This post is not about "drunks" as much is it about the parking situation and the KCK Police working the parking lots and enforcing laws, or the lack of doing so.

And 3.2 beer will knock your socks off if you are willing to drink enough of it,... Does Lakeside sell 3.2 or 5.0? I have had a few there and they did not seem like 3.2, but once again that is not the point of this thread.

Sorry, just had to chime in on that post.

Race on.

_________________
"The government cannot give to anyone anything that it does not first take from someone else." Thomas Jefferson

This entire post is driving me crazy. Having a uniformed police officer provide security at an event is the absolute best solution that you can have. They are trained professionals. They deal with the public every day. Having them in uniform is another positive. How often have you seen a drunk take on a uniformed police officer? How often have you seen a drunk take on a "rent a cop"? If there is a crisis at the track who do you want to see? A uniformed KCK police officer or a "rent a cop" It makes me feel very good to go to Lakeside and see a unifromed KCK officer. I know that the track could have a much cheaper solution, but instead they have the absoluely best available.

The police officers at the track are hired for security. This is the prime focus. This is the same as the police officers that are on duty at chiefs, royals, sprint center, etc. They are going to focus on providing security for the majority of the public. It is not their focus to have a DUI checkpoint, their focus is to protect the majority of the public.

Having a DUI checkpoint is a major undertaken that has a major cost. It would the police chief of KCK to determine to have a DUI checkpoint. To do a checkpooint correctly, the police would have to schedule x number of cops to come work overtime to staff the checkpoint. I would imagine that to do it correctly it would take at least 25 maybe more officers. The traditional slow traffic leaving the track would be even worse. With all of the other issues facing KCK, I am sure that this is very low on the priority list. How many checkpoints have you seen after a chiefs game? a royals game? a concert at the sprint center? a sprint cup race? The general goal of crowd control is to disperse the crowd.

Please stop the silly complaints about having the absolute best solution possible.

Having a conversation about the parking lot, the flow of traffic, and the structure of the parking lot all could be improved. Having a conversation about any of that would be fair. To combine the traffic issues with the security does not make sense.