Thursday, February 01, 2001
I SAW A COP CAR, one that didn't appear to be in any big hurry, mosey through a red light as I drove home from work tonight. My stronger-than-most-people's aversion to such actions is a topic for another time, and in fact this incident didn't even upset me, but it got me to thinking: Of course there was no problem with doing that. My car was the only one in sight, and it was behind him. But the same idea should apply to me. In fact, anyone with a modicum of intelligence should be empowered to make such judgments rather than obediently sitting at a stoplight at an empty intersection in the middle of the night.
The trouble is, we can't be trusted. Oh, you and I can be trusted, but the rest of the morons out there? Not even close. Look at the right-on-red law. It was passed to cover precisely the situation I describe above. Does anybody know that? Does anybody even know that "after a full stop" is part and parcel of "right on red"? Nope. People think it means that, if they're making a right turn, the red light no longer applies. I've said it before and I'll say it again: People are stupid.
The trouble is, we can't be trusted. Oh, you and I can be trusted, but the rest of the morons out there? Not even close. Look at the right-on-red law. It was passed to cover precisely the situation I describe above. Does anybody know that? Does anybody even know that "after a full stop" is part and parcel of "right on red"? Nope. People think it means that, if they're making a right turn, the red light no longer applies. I've said it before and I'll say it again: People are stupid.
