Those Straps Mean Our Police Officers Are Well-Grounded

Hey Johnston: What are those straps hanging underneath Bellevue police cars?

Answer: Until you mentioned it, Mr. Johnston hadn't noticed any straps hanging near the axle of the patrol cars. Now he has to look at all of passing police cars (Yes, Mr. Johnston lets all police cars pass him) and started noticing that many police cars have these straps.

Virgil Roy, the lead mechanic for Bellevue's vehicle fleet, said the straps originally were installed in 1980 after Mount St. Helens blew up.

The theory was that the cars were like giant magnets that would attract the silicon in volcano dust, which could get into the various car parts and wreck them. The rubber/metal strap, however, would ground the car and "demagnetize" it.

Bellevue never got to test that theory because most of the volcano dust went east. But a couple of years ago, the city decided to put the strap back on because it helped eliminate the static electricity that built up when the cops slid across their slick car seats.

"They would touch their steering wheels and get a shock," Roy said.

Hey Johnston: Do police departments follow up reported violations? I called twice to report a vehicle with tabs expired almost a year, told them where this person lives and works and three months later this vehicle is still not licensed. Is the police department too busy or don't they care? I gave them the license plate number.

Answer: Is this vehicle still being operated on the streets or is it parked in the guy's yard like a giant planter?

Either way, the police won't go out of their way to ticket the car. The description of the unlicensed vehicle will be put into the computer and if the driver is stopped, he will then get a ticket for driving with expired plates.

Hey Johnston: Every morning on the way to work in Bellevue, I see two or three dead possums. Are they just slow or what? And are they native to this area?

Answer: Possums are marsupials (that means "pouched") and aren't native to the Northwest. They were brought here from the southern United States and have the remarkable ability to breed like flies.

Technically called opossums, they can get pregnant and have a litter within 12 to 13 days. The mothers carry their young in a pouch. The folks at Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) said that when confronted by a car, a possum does what a possum does naturally. It stops and plays "possum" instead of running for cover.

Unfortunately, this "playing dead" turns out to be a self-fulfilling act and the streets get littered with dead possums.

Because the mothers carry their young in pouches, there may be some survivors from a car-possum encounter. PAWS does accept survivors (787-2500) and Bellevue's Humane Society transports them to Lynnwood.

How to Just Ask Johnston: This column appears Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Local News section of the Eastside edition. Leave your questions on Steve Johnston's voice mail at 464-8475. Or write: Just Ask Johnston, c/o The Seattle Times, 10777 Main St., Suite 100, Bellevue, WA 98004. The e-mail address is east@seatimes.com