Ever been out on the road . . .
. . . and noticed that everyone's doing at least 10 mph over the limit? Yeah me neither.
All this traffic enforcement is supposed to be about safety. However, red light cameras, radar cameras, speed traps, and the loss of the right to a trial by jury all come down to one thing - MONEY!
The last is the worst part of of all. In the struggle to increase revenue streams so they can provide services 95% don't need or want, local governments (especially the smaller ones) run roughshod over our rights to reduce their expenses. Something that I think a lot of us have forgotten is that the Constitution does not lay out what I can do - it lays out what the government can't or has to do.
Instead we get the "can't give 'em a trial by jury - we can't afford to do that for every traffic offense".
How about this instead? Raise the fines enough that they cover that cost. Simple, effective, and to the point and everyone's rights are preserved. If you're found guilty the trial is paid for - if innocent then the local cops might start to feel some pressure to be sure of their collars. Heck, it might even help slow or reverse the current trend of disrepute that police and politicians are held in.
Of course it would also mean that maybe, possibly, their would be some publice pressure to raise the limits to where they should be for SAFETY reasons and not for revenue generation.
All this traffic enforcement is supposed to be about safety. However, red light cameras, radar cameras, speed traps, and the loss of the right to a trial by jury all come down to one thing - MONEY!
The last is the worst part of of all. In the struggle to increase revenue streams so they can provide services 95% don't need or want, local governments (especially the smaller ones) run roughshod over our rights to reduce their expenses. Something that I think a lot of us have forgotten is that the Constitution does not lay out what I can do - it lays out what the government can't or has to do.
Instead we get the "can't give 'em a trial by jury - we can't afford to do that for every traffic offense".
How about this instead? Raise the fines enough that they cover that cost. Simple, effective, and to the point and everyone's rights are preserved. If you're found guilty the trial is paid for - if innocent then the local cops might start to feel some pressure to be sure of their collars. Heck, it might even help slow or reverse the current trend of disrepute that police and politicians are held in.
Of course it would also mean that maybe, possibly, their would be some publice pressure to raise the limits to where they should be for SAFETY reasons and not for revenue generation.
posted by Agammamon at 21:16
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