Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 5-3-2019

Editorial/Column
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
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S. KAY ANDREWS, PUBLISHER
C. BLYTHE ANDREWS III, PRESIDENT/CONTROLLER ALLISON WELLS-CLEBERT, CFO
GWEN HAYES, EDITOR
IRIS HOLTON, CITY EDITOR
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A Dash Cam Can Be Your Best Friend
here are over 6 million
car accidents in the United States each year. The ratio of car accidents to actual drivers causes a high insur- ance rate nationally. Many people overlook the impor- tance of having a dash cam in their vehicle.
A dash cam these days can run you anywhere from $79- $300. In short, they are not expensive and for the most part easy to install. If you are a safe driver, a dash cam can help tell your side of the story after a tragic car accident, es- pecially if loss of life is in- volved. This essential recording device can even dispute an on-the-spot Police report and save you a headache of problems.
Most, if not all, dash cams provide live playback of an accident, including still pic- tures from various angles and most importantly, the time of the accident. There are vari- ous types of dash cameras, some are easily hidden and straps on to your rear-view mirror, while others are
placed on the windshield it- self.
The dash cam will auto- matically activate its record- ing feature when it senses any vehicle disturbance. This fea- ture is called G-sensor. These handy devices can run all day depending on your installa- tion choice through a direct connection to the car’s bat- tery terminal or fuse box without killing your car’s bat- tery.
Potential thieves or bad drivers can be recorded if they damaged your vehicle in any way in the middle of the night.
Dash cameras can also be indispensable by acting as a rear-view camera to avoid backing into another car or hitting a pedestrian which may be hard to see with the naked eye. New vehicles today come with rear view cameras, but older vehicles will need a dash cam.
Many drivers neglect to have a dash cam because it is like a black box, monitoring your every movement. High
end dash cams will feature GPS positioning in case your car is stolen. These useful de- vices make OnStar and other car recovery professionals’ jobs almost obsolete. The owner of the vehicle can tell the precise moment the car was stolen, even if it is trans- ported miles across town. Owners of Hondas, Toyotas and other popular stolen cars would be wise to purchase a dash cam.
When buying a dash cam, make sure it comes with at least a one-year warranty from the manufacturer and find an expert installer who can run a lead directly from the dash cam to the battery for twenty-four-hour secu- rity. You will need extra wiring for the twenty-four- hour surveillance of the vehi- cle which can be bought cheap on eBay or Amazon.
To play back any sudden vibration to your vehicle is a cinch with a high capacity SD digital card which is a stan- dard feature of all dash cam- eras. Many dash cameras even come with a SD card, so you won’t have to pay extra to purchase one on your own.
Eric Hall holds a Mas- ter’s Degree from the Uni- versity of South Florida in Instructional Technol- ogy and Cybersecurity Digital Forensics. He has been a computer techni- cian for over 20 years. Follow him on Facebook.
POSTMASTER: Send Address Change To: Florida Sentinel Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3363 Tampa, FL 33601 Periodical Postage Paid At Tampa, FL
C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Farewell To A Magnificent Man
And Warrior
ary Grant, Clark Gable, Sidney Poitier, and Billy Dee
Williams were all handsome men and held their own in a world of personal magnetism. But here in Tampa, a city filled with handsome men, one man could light up a room the moment he entered or sauntered out. His name was James Hammond – Jim for his closest friends. He passed into history recently. But the footprints he left behind were equal to any walk of fame anywhere from Hollywood to the Himalayas.
So, for just a moment, let’s talk about Jim Hammond, who was a warrior, a giant and one of Tampa’s handsome men.
One of the things he did was to be the first to prepare Black employees for jobs with local telephone companies. He was appointed as the first director of the Office of Com- munity Relations and used his post to promote Black pres- ence and race relations throughout the city of Tampa.
Among the many things he did, Hammond led the inte- gration of Courtney-Campbell Beach with an organization he created and called “Young Adults for Progressive Ac- tion.” He was instrumental in desegregating downtown Tampa movie theaters and other public facilities, and be- came a leading force in the upgrading of Black educational as well as business and employment opportunities.
The Tampa Hillsborough Action Plan, another of his brainchild’s stimulated a Minority AIDS Initiative, afford- able housing, weatherization and a very successful busi- ness incubator, THAP 5508. Indeed, Hammond could be said to be one of the founding fathers of Black progress in Tampa’s Hillsborough County.
And then he was a celebrity. His face was always ex- pected and welcomed at local social events, being a mem- ber of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, among other business and social organizations. He bal- anced his social life with a thriving personal business.
He leaves behind a legacy that includes a family as a footnote on the pages of Tampa’s history, and as a door- opener for many individuals who broke down Tampa’s for- merly impenetrable racial walls. So, now he lies still, but his echo roars like a lion. We miss his Clark Gable smile and his Billy Dee glances. But the City of Tampa will forever be The Place Jim Hammond Helped to Build.
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FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2019 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-A