Esteemed listers:
I won't address the oft-quoted doctrine in MV law about driving being some kind of "privelege", as I personally believe that ALL of MV law is a very shaky constitutional area. I will merely state the our founding documents only speak to "certain rights being affirmed by the government", and that rights can't be granted by the government, that they are inherent, as as such, can only be affirmed. Nowhere are these so- called "priveleges " mentioned.
On to "priveleges", why is it that the police (all-inclusive term for various and sundry agencies, JUST for the purposes of this discussion) have "rights" while all we seem to have is "priveleges", and these ONLY when granted by the police"? Is anyone else growing tired of this arrangement?
I say that if my driving is a "privelege", then so too is having the use of a siren or flashing light on your emergency vehicle. Who the hell cares what color it is? BTW, what color is a siren? Emergency respondents are NOT a priveleged class, regardless of how they may see it. If we speak of abuse of such fixtures, let's also include all those pizza and donut runs with lights and sirens going full tilt. (don't dare scold me on this because there is enough documentation in my state alone that traffic deaths and worse have occured during such fooling around!) I have in mind specifically the lawless son of a local police chief who bulls his way through rush hour traffic with the siren mounted under the hood of his Trans Am. Such people are untouchable, and above the law as we are bound to it. How many actual abuses of such devices can YOU attribute to MV owners? I bet I can match your one with ten of my own, from people who SHOULD know better. I say we get rid of ALL the lights, and no more confusion about wh
om is allowed to display what color.
A little civil disobedience is sometimes a good thing people. Let's take back our damned country quietly and firmly from all the jackasses who believe we don't have enough sense to walk to our mailboxes without injuring ourselves. There are a LOT of nice third world countries where they would be happy.
My neighbor, who is as dumb as the proverbial box of hair, and has his junk car festooned with more lights than the brooklyn bridge, happily speeds through traffic, blue lights flashing like a sinking ferry boat with a bad generator, all in the name of responding to a fire call. When he comes up behind you at 70 mph, you can't tell if it's him in his oil smoking, parts-shedding, junk car, or a state trooper, who also use blue lights when underway. Believe me when I say that if you ever did have a real emergency at your home, this guy is the LAST human being you'd want to throw into the mix. I say take em all away.
Just another cynical but nevertheless experience-based opinion from Cougarjack
(well, what did you expect?)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 08 2001 - 10:58:56 PDT