Yeah. I’ve deserved many a ticket and have only actually gotten one (and one warning).
However justified a traffic ticket might be, whether for speeding or whatever else, the fact of the matter is that they are used primarily to generate revenue. It is a hidden tax that cops try to levy on people from out of town so they don’t get shit from the locals. That’s why every town has quotas for their cops. There may be instances where enforcement is done for legitimate public safety reasons, but that’s not the norm.
In NJ I think the issue was actually litigated some years ago but AFAIK, there are still quotas, it’s just that they are more discrete about enforcing them now.
My point is that in many cases enforcement is anything but fair and amounts to a hidden and regressive tax preferentially imposed on people who are least able to object.
Oh, it was our fault (his fault, actually) for speeding. But this is one of those towns that have something like a 15 or 20 MPH speed limit on a road that is basically a highway. There was no reason to have a speed limit that low. The road is on the edge of town. There’s always cops posted all along the road. This was a speed trap, and it was intended to generate revenue. So, as a matter of principle, we will inconvenience ourselves. I do a lot of things as a matter of principle. I buy American made products when I can, for instance.
There are small towns which have the 15-20 MPH speed limit on the main road through town…but that main road is where a lot of pedestrians cross, or it’s in the middle of a school zone, or something like that, and it’s reasonable.
I generally go UNDER the speed limit, if I can do so safely. Sometimes it’s not safe to be going 55 when everyone else is going 80.
So because YOU don’t think a lower speed limit is justified, it’s ok to speed? What if you’re in a construction zone but see no workers - is it ok to speed then?
So, it was his fault yet your retaliation is principled. I think you and I define “principled” differently. Actually, I can’t even figure out what the principle is. If you already knew the speed limit was low yet you still drove on it and spent money there, it can’t be a principled stand against the speed trap. No, it appears to be a stand against the rules applying to you.
Are there people who are unaware you can get a fine if you speed? That’s the only way a ticket can be a “hidden” tax. Everyone doesn’t get caught every time, sure. I speed every day and have been driving for 23 years and have gotten one ticket. That doesn’t mean it was unfair that one time I got the ticket. It means I was lucky the times I didn’t.
Exactly. I don’t understand the ‘generating revenue’ thing either. So? How else are they going to keep the budget going? Would you rather they raise everyone’s taxes, or focus on those who are breaking the LAW?
Probably best to raise everyone’s taxes. That way, they don’t stand to get fucked over if people happen to stop breaking the LAW. I mean, the ordinances are in place for the purpose of public safety (on paper, anyway). Be kind of ironic if they actually achieve public safety one day, only to find that their budget had been resting on a foundation of danger being permitted to thrive.
We could run the fire department’s budget based on how many fires they put out too. That’s a great idea.
I think they should raise taxes to cover what needs done. And they should still fine those who speed.
“Unfortunately, the general Ankh-Morpork ethos quickly came to the fore and fire fighters would tend to go to prospective clients’ houses in groups, making loud comments like ‘Very inflammable looking place, this’ and ‘Probably go up like a firework with just one carelessly-dropped match, know what I mean?’”
In some cases, the speed limit (and enforcement of it) is determined by public safety. In other cases, the speed limit is set so that it’s a revenue generator. If I’m in a construction zone, then it’s a safety issue. If I’m on a four lane highway, and the speed limit is 15 MPH for 25 miles, it’s a revenue generator. This particular town, or the PTB in it, apparently thought that ticketing people was more effective in raising revenue than having people stop for gas and meals. So, we opted to take our business elsewhere.
It’s all pretty moot now, anyway…I haven’t driven that route for ten years or so. But now, if I see a small town with a very low speed limit, not only am I pretty careful not to speed there…I’m also very careful not to spend money there, even if I haven’t received a ticket in that town before.
I didn’t mind paying my speeding ticket. Well, I did a bit, but I’m over it. What I wish is that they would process my check already. I’m getting very apprehensive.
I got a ticket for failure to signal due to one of my tail lights being out. This was in a nearby town that was sort of a light-industry backwater. Most cops would extend you the courtesy of just telling you about it so you could get it fixed. I mean honestly, when was the last time you even attempted you check your tail lights. The only time I ever do it if I need to hook up the trailer and tow something. Then they make this big fucking production about it by calling for “backup” - I guess because I look so threatening - yeah - that must be it. I also remember rummaging around in the “trunk” for some reason - I guess at their suggestion or insistence. That was amusing since it was a hatchback and they should have been able to see everything anyway.
I managed to plead to a lesser included offense that didn’t get me any points so I was only out the fine, but even though this was several years ago, I still avoid that town like the plague. I don’t even want to breath the same air.
You forgot your “to be.” 
I live in a city that has an ongoing love affair with stop signs rather than yield signs because stop signs get you a $150 ticket when you roll through them (as every single frigging driver in this city does) and yield signs don’t. I know there could be yield signs or no signs at many of these intersections because people DO roll through them regularly without having accidents. I hate the overuse of stop signs, but it’s the reality of living here, so I dutifully make my complete stop (risking an almost certain collision some day from someone not paying attention behind me who expects me to roll through like everyone else).
I also hate playground and school zones (and they started the school zones a half hour earlier this year, for God’s sake - I have yet to see a single child in a school zone when I’m driving to work at 7:30 am). Children aren’t allowed to touch foot to ground without a parent, yet every single commuter in a city of over one million people is inconvenienced multiple times every single work day for the vanishingly small increase in perceived safety of school kids, and it’s total bullshit, (especially the part where people in parent-mobiles tailgate me through the zones every day). I’d like to see school and playground zones re-visited and re-done as something that is actually effective without being a pain in the ass for an entire city, but I’m not holding my breath. No one is ever actually going to re-visit and fix the whole idea of school and playground zones, though, because no politician is going to be the one who comes out against “child safety.” :rolleyes:
Why the fuck are so many of my friends, people for whom I have nothing but love and respect for, changing their profile pictures to cartoon characters? Oh, I see. To end child abuse. Well fuck guys, can’t imagine this won’t have an immediate impact and… oh wait, sorry. I’ve misunderstood. It’s to actually just to raise awareness of child abuse. What the fuck? It’s not like these people are changing their profile pictures to a fucking Care Bear or Simba and including a direct link to the NSPCC (or equivalent), they’re just putting up a picture of, I don’t even know, Captain Planet, and then there’s a discussion about how much cartoons ruled when we were kids. Yea! Think of the children, won’t you? Or, as it turns out, the Snorks.
Just fuck off the lot of you. I fucking hate this half-assed, smug social media wankery where people seem to think that, if they change their profile from a duck-face pout to Jessica Rabbit some fucking lowlife is going to be, what, struck with guilt and next time Junior wets the bed he’ll be put in time out rather than beaten? Likewise I’m sure that in households across the country, thousands of frightened and miserable children are already sleeping sounder for being bathed in the warm glow of Facebook’s concern.
It’s worse than that coy fucking ‘game’ where woman were supposed to say where they put their handbag. ‘I like it on the kitchen table wink wink’ FUCKING LOL IT LOOKS LIKE YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT SEX teeheehee boys you’ve got a one track mind (ps breast cancer is, um, bad?). Because when I point out that actually, a profile pic is not a powerful force of change suddenly I become some sort of pro-abuse killjoy.
Goddamn. I don’t even know why this is working me up so much. This is about the longest thing I’ve posted, and it’s about Facebook. Ugh.
Well, you could be brave and change your profile picture to Sgt. Hatred.
Why do you hate children, manx?
Pthbt, Cat Fight.
Oh look, an explanaion! A manifesto, even.
[QUOTE=Some Idiot]
Change your facebook profile picture to a cartoon from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same. Until monday, there should be no human faces on facebook, but a stash of memories. This is for eliminating violence against children.
[/QUOTE]
Does. not. compute. Oh lord, the rage! The impotent pointless rage… I’ll just seethe and bitch on a message board instead. It is the way of my people.
I deleted my facebook account a while ago - best thing I’ve ever done on the internet.