Speed limit enforcement

[jayalphatech]

@t-bonham@scc.net

I don’t think that would work out. People with political clout, or media stars with public access, could start an organized campaign against any cop audacious enough to give them a ticket. And with a fair chance to succeed, given the likely limited resources of the cop to organize a political campaign in response.

Remember the retribution that Republicans organized when Geo. Bush’s daughters were caught drunk in a bar? Those people just did their job, and treated them just like any other drunk, with no special treatment because of their father being President – and they suffered significant attacks because of it. Now imagine a similar situation in a small backwater county, without the media coverage this got. The cop would be out of a job quickly.

To say nothing of the expense of holding elections for this ‘public approval’.

I dunno. My idea would be in an idealized scenario, which would be a self maintaining system. Jurisdictions would be very small and the public approval might be a simple aye or nay in a school gym. Example- bush gets up and says fire the cop, i would hope someone else would stand up and counter that.

However i do see a problem that would come up, where it could be predatory to outsiders, although here in north jersey that is already the case.

[BomTek]

@Joey_P

To use the example in the OP, if a cop catches someone stealing a candy bar or a $200 skirt, it’s the same ticket.

Not exactly… I didn’t say they couldn’t be scaled for the severity of the infraction. I would expect someone going 10 mph over the limit to get less of a penalty than someone going 30 over. Stealing a candy bar and a $200 skirt are both shoplifting, after all, they’re just treated differently in practice.

@dmatsch

What I would like to know is this:

It’s the police officer’s sworn duty to protect the public safety.

Don’t you think this would be better served by actually patrolling the streets and pulling over people who obviously do way more dangerous things than 10-20 over the limit?

This is really the best argument against pulling over and ticketing every single speeder. I believe I’m capable of driving 20 or 25 over in certain circumstances and still driving perfectly safely, and I don’t want my ability to do so infringed upon, I simply wonder why they bother with speed limits at all if they’re so loosely enforced (and enforced differently depending on the cop’s mood, the time of the month, and a few other factors).