May 27th / 29th
"Time for Median Hawkers to Go Away"
On Thursday, May 12, Donald Daniels was sitting on a median strip, hawking
copies of the Winston-Salem Journal when he was struck by a tractor
trailer.
Daniels, who wears a leg brace and walks with a cane, had been selling
newspapers to motorists as they exited Silas Creek Parkway onto Stratford
Road.
He was stationed there ten years ago by the Journal's circulation
coordinator Nat McCullough, who said he was "shocked" when he heard of the
accident. Shocked by what, exactly? Shocked that if you send a disabled man out in
the middle of traffic that there's a chance he might get hit?
Well, here's another shocker. Daniels, who has since undergone multiple
surgeries and is still hospitalized, isn't covered by the Journal's group
policy. "As an independent contractor, Donald is not covered by our employee
insurance", said Journal publisher Jeffrey Green. That's great. So what does
the Journal do to rectify their mistake? The paper set up an account at
Southern Community Bank so that the public can donate money to help pay
Daniels' medical bills. To paraphrase Shakespeare, "How doth this suck? Let me
count the ways".
First of all, the Journal should never allow anyone, much less a disabled
person, to sell newspapers in the middle of the road. It is dangerous and
should be against the law, right? Just the opposite. Years ago, newspaper
companies successfully lobbied the NC General Assembly to pass a special law
allowing hawkers to sell papers on medians. Publishers argued that denying
their vendors access to medians constituted a violation of the rights of a
free press. That insane law also prohibits local governments from taking
any action against the hawkers based solely on their presence and activities,
much as they can with panhandlers. That begs the question, then, are
panhandlers more at risk of getting hit by a truck than, say, disabled newspaper
hawkers? State lawmakers must think so.
But if the Journal and other papers fought for the right to occupy
medians, shouldn't those same companies also take responsibility for what happens
to the vendors who are assigned there? Apparently not. Perhaps if Mr.
Daniels had injured his vocal chords instead of his legs, the Journal might have
considered that a free speech issue.
Pardon the pun, but the Daniels incident was an accident waiting to
happen. Hawkers are everywhere these days. In Florida, for example, the Broward
New Times reports that fifteen newspaper vendors have been struck and
killed in as many years. But hawkers aren't just risking their lives to sell
papers. You see them hanging over into the road to advertise everything from
pizzas to car washes. In Kernersville, a spry young man stands out on the
edge of a busy intersection, gyrating and waving large signs at motorists,
enticing them to buy gold and silver. One day I called the Kernersville
police to complain about the gold hawker. I warned that if something wasn't
done, someone was going to get hurt. That's when I first learned that
localities have their hands tied by idiotic legislation. It's a bad law which needs
to be repealed.
I asked Winston-Salem Police Chief Scott Cunningham for his take.
"Professionally I do believe it is dangerous for anyone, panhandlers, hawkers,
charity supporters, etc..to be in the roadway medians. Roadways are designed to
move traffic, not for people to be out amongst the vehicles. It is
inherently dangerous for people to be in the roadway, and this should be
prohibited in all cases. Eliminating the hawking of newspapers in the median will
surely not hamper the freedom of the press".
Last week, Mr. Daniels hired an attorney, and that usually means someone
is going to be sued. But Daniels put himself in harm's way, so I do not
condone legal action by him now. However, if he sues anyone, it should be the
Winston Salem Journal. If that happens, we can all take up a collection to
help pay for the Journal's legal fees. Speech might be free, but lawsuits
aren't.
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