Traffic laws

i’m watching Vanishing Point (1971) and i’m putting a better finger on why exactly traffic laws, specifically speed limits, don’t make sense to me. the driver in this movie is a professional race driver. he has harmed noone in his infractions of the law, yet each state he goes into, the highway patrol quickly comes after him. most of the movie is him evading their attempts to apprehend him, while not harming other people.

the thing that tripped the switch was; the police KNOW he’s a professional driver, and he runs courier services. he hasn’t harmed anyone, he’s simply driving how he sees fit, and in a “reckless” but well controlled manner.

traffic laws are enforced as though i have committed a crime worth punishing. just because i’m going 40 in a 25, doesn’t mean i’m going to kill a kid. if i do kill a kid, i expect you to come after me with the full force of the law and i feel the speed limit in the area should be used to magnify the punishment.

if you kill a kid going 50 in a 25, welcome to death row. see how many people drive ‘carelessly’ then. it’s all about ramifications and people understanding that punishments justly fit the crime. if you’re willing to die in order to speed, you’re going to harm people in other ways, anyhow.

is that too extreme? i don’t think so. i’ve long thought that the law, as it is, doesn’t do much to prevent speeding. if you’re wealthy enough to afford a Zonda, you’re going to be wealthy enough to pay a $100,000 speeding ticket, you know? so why do those fuckers get off with the same $200 as me? it affects me a hell of a lot more than them, and encourages ME to not speed, at least.

this gets into my ideas i’m coming up with that would, in my mind, make transportation so much better. involving PROFESSIONAL driver’s licenses, better mass transit, higher requirements for a basic driver’s license, etc etc.

and some might retort; what if you kill a kid driving 75 in a 25, trying to save your wife from a gunshot wound… or whatever.

explain it to the judge and experts. the law should prescribe no punishment, that should be left to those who know the law and the experts in the field. not a group of 12 hobos off the street.

i would also like to point out that drunk driving laws do nothing to prevent people from driving drunk and killing people. i don’t know if the stats back that up, but i would argue that even if some people think twice because of the mandatorily enforced law, and fact that they can be pulled over for anything, so even if they’re only mildly buzzed, they’re calling a cab.

the people who are mildly buzzed and calling cabs aren’t the people killing people while driving. and if they are, it’s because they’re mildly buzzed, driving with friends, and doing stupid shit.

sober drivers; watch out for people doing stupid shit. drive defensively, stop blaming others for your inability to control your vehicle or your lack of judgement when you decide to pass that guy who’s been swerving over the lines for the last mile, instead of pulling into a gas station and taking a break, or changing your route to avoid them.

racing barriers along all the sidewalks in cities and slow-rise heavy steel poles at pedestrian crossways. pedestrians crossing against the light are fair game.