Reason: Buckle Boondoggle: "Click It Or Ticket" wastes time, diverts resources, helps nobody
Reason: Buckle Boondoggle: "Click It Or Ticket" wastes time, diverts resources, helps nobody
Ted Balaker writes,
A cop stops you at a checkpoint. The officer peers inside. What's he looking for? A kidnapper? A terrorist? This week, chances are good the officer is looking for a less frightening perpetrator—the unbuckled motorist…
Click It supporters say tougher seat belt laws will help make highways even safer, but the nationwide trend toward safer streets has continued with or without them. Take New Hampshire, the only state without an adult seat belt law. It might seem like the "Live free or die" state has chosen death, but drivers there actually enjoy the nation's fourth safest roads. Neither of the two safest states have primary enforcement, and of the top 20 safest states, 10 have primary enforcement and 10 do not…
Most importantly, running down seatbelt scofflaws keeps officers away from more important public safety duties…
The problem isn't the 20 percent of Americans who refuse to buckle up; it's a system that forces everyone to subsidize everyone else. The solution is making everyone pay his own way. If we don't figure out how to fix this particular tragedy of the commons, we'll likely continue down the Nanny State path of more checkpoints, stiffer fines, and more stringent laws…
Everyday, I hear a “Click It or Ticket” public service announcement on the radio. It features a man with a very authoritative voice that starts out saying, “Everyone knows seat belts save lives, blah, blah, blah.” Then he describes how wearing seatbelts will save us time, money, and hassle, because police officers WILL write us tickets for not wearing seatbelts. He concludes by telling us to “consider this a friendly warning.” Let us be clear, this is NOT a warning, it is a threat. Our government does not trust our judgment, so it treats us like out of control children. It is one of many threats our government uses everyday to control our behavior, because threats and coercion are the greatest expression of the State.
After the commercial ends and I finish swearing at my radio, I cannot help wondering why we tolerate this. If my parents threatened me every time I spoke to them, I would stop talking to them. If my boss persistently threatened me at work, I would find another job. If anyone I knew treated me the way our government routinely treats us, I would break off all relations with that person. I do not think I am alone. Yet, we sit back and take it as government representatives, who we elect and pay, continue to find new reasons to threaten us. Why do we hold government to a different moral standard than we hold individuals?
Ted Balaker writes,
A cop stops you at a checkpoint. The officer peers inside. What's he looking for? A kidnapper? A terrorist? This week, chances are good the officer is looking for a less frightening perpetrator—the unbuckled motorist…
Click It supporters say tougher seat belt laws will help make highways even safer, but the nationwide trend toward safer streets has continued with or without them. Take New Hampshire, the only state without an adult seat belt law. It might seem like the "Live free or die" state has chosen death, but drivers there actually enjoy the nation's fourth safest roads. Neither of the two safest states have primary enforcement, and of the top 20 safest states, 10 have primary enforcement and 10 do not…
Most importantly, running down seatbelt scofflaws keeps officers away from more important public safety duties…
The problem isn't the 20 percent of Americans who refuse to buckle up; it's a system that forces everyone to subsidize everyone else. The solution is making everyone pay his own way. If we don't figure out how to fix this particular tragedy of the commons, we'll likely continue down the Nanny State path of more checkpoints, stiffer fines, and more stringent laws…
Everyday, I hear a “Click It or Ticket” public service announcement on the radio. It features a man with a very authoritative voice that starts out saying, “Everyone knows seat belts save lives, blah, blah, blah.” Then he describes how wearing seatbelts will save us time, money, and hassle, because police officers WILL write us tickets for not wearing seatbelts. He concludes by telling us to “consider this a friendly warning.” Let us be clear, this is NOT a warning, it is a threat. Our government does not trust our judgment, so it treats us like out of control children. It is one of many threats our government uses everyday to control our behavior, because threats and coercion are the greatest expression of the State.
After the commercial ends and I finish swearing at my radio, I cannot help wondering why we tolerate this. If my parents threatened me every time I spoke to them, I would stop talking to them. If my boss persistently threatened me at work, I would find another job. If anyone I knew treated me the way our government routinely treats us, I would break off all relations with that person. I do not think I am alone. Yet, we sit back and take it as government representatives, who we elect and pay, continue to find new reasons to threaten us. Why do we hold government to a different moral standard than we hold individuals?
Grace, Love & Peace August Ecklund at 1:25 AM
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