Hanging power cords illegal

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This article was published 21/12/2010 (5589 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s not only a rite of winter but a necessity for those whose car block heaters are too far from the nearest power outlet.

You’ve seen their electrical handiwork as they string the power cords over tree branches and atop snowbanks in a bid to plug in their vehicle parked on the street.

Kate Tate has strung her extension cords around trees 3.5 metres above the sidewalk since she moved into her north Winnipeg home in 1992.

“I would move it if it was a safety issue, but nobody’s tripping on it up there,” Tate said Monday.

The only problem is the long-standing practice is illegal but a Regina man is mounting a crusade in the Saskatchewan capital that will warm the hearts — and the block heaters — of anyone who has run afoul of the bylaw banning power cords from being strung across sidewalks.

The fight Bob Klassen sparked after receiving a $25 ticket for running an extension cord from his Toyota Corolla’s block heater across the sidewalk to a power outlet landed on the agenda at Regina’s city hall Monday night.

While the fight rages in Regina, it appears Winnipeg is hardly plugged in when it comes to enforcement.

So far, only one citation has been issued for a violation of the city’s bylaw banning what is clearly a long-standing practice.

On average each winter, the city receives about 25 calls from the public about extension cords that are strung across sidewalks. But when investigating those complaints, city spokeswoman Michelle Bailey says, the city typically takes an educational approach, making contact with car owner, advising them about the infraction and asking them to remove the cord.

Being ticketed is unusual as most comply with the bylaw once they made aware of it.

“Tickets are rare, people usually move the cords after the warning,” Bailey says.

For those who continue to flout the bylaw, they risk a $100 ticket. Bailey added unattended cords could jeopardize pedestrian safety and become electrical hazards.

Liz Peters, CAA Manitoba’s spokeswoman, says that the city should educate the public about obstructive extension cords as a safety issue.

“There need to be some alternatives, because people need to plug in their cars in the winter, but at the end of the day a law is a law.”

Peters says the main reason vehicles do not start in the winter is because they are not plugged in.

“If it’s dark or the cords are covered by snow, then people could trip and get hurt. Then you have a bigger problem than a dead car.”

Some municipalities have amended their extension cord bylaws for when temperatures plunge. For example, in Medicine Hat, Alta., drivers are allowed to run a cord through trees or anything else at least 21/2 metres above the sidewalk.

In Grande Prairie, Alta., a cord may snake across a sidewalk if it is “done in such a manner to ensure due care and attention for the safe passage of vehicles or pedestrians.”

 

— with files from The Canadian Press

alex.paterson@freepress.mb.ca