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Man Killed by Car at Bus Stop as Wife Watches - Local News - Miami, FL - msnbc.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44422076/ns/local_news-miami_fl/#.TmdqBuzNpQJ - broken link)
you just know it was some jerk driving aggressively.
Terrible story. I dont think it has as much about enforcing the law then teaching people how to actually drive a car. There are only so many police officers out there. Getting a drivers license especially in Florida is WAY WAY too easy. It should A) Cost more money,
B) Consit of many different road test, Highway, Roads, Parking etc.. it should also have emergency situation handeling like have a pro-driver in the car and skidding it out, gettting out of an overstreer or under steer. The problem with people espeically people who drive like maniacs is they dont really know how to drive but think they do.
Most cars I drive are pretty good performing cars (german cars) I have gone to an empty road or parking lot and do intentional oversteers and/or understeers to my car to make sure I know how to get out of it, skid the car unporpose etc.. Emergency Braking all that stuff. It is good to know how your car handles when it is not in your full control and how to get it back into control. These are types of things that should be taught in driving test. Driving is the most dangerous thing most people do in their lives yet it is looked at as such a casual thing. People dont know any proper driving techniques.
Look at getting a pilots license. Yes I know a plane is much more complicated then a car but it is also safer. Pilots have to go through emergency situations during training and during their test in the actual airplane. Stall the plane, spin the plane, cut off power etc.. Driving test need to be taken looked at much more seriously and those extra cost of these test etc.. will just be taken from a much higher initial license fee. I am talking in the high hundreds low thousands. May sound crazy but it really is not. They do this in Europe and people there know how to drive.
The testing would make sense except for one thing; it is assumed the reason people drive bad is because they do not know the rules of the road, but in fact they do know, they just do not care. No amount of testing is ever going to do away with that mentality, no amount of increase in getting a license will do away with it, except having more unlicensed drivers on the road.
A pilot has a different mentality, not too many irresponsible dopes want to be a pilot, and it is much more difficult to get an airplane to drive than a car. The lack of having a license does not keep people off the road.
People here know the rules just as well in Europe, the culture differences is what determines whether they care or not. Europe also has a small group of people who seem to not care about the rules, regardless of how much and difficult it is to get a license.
The testing would make sense except for one thing; it is assumed the reason people drive bad is because they do not know the rules of the road, but in fact they do know, they just do not care. No amount of testing is ever going to do away with that mentality, no amount of increase in getting a license will do away with it, except having more unlicensed drivers on the road.
A pilot has a different mentality, not too many irresponsible dopes want to be a pilot, and it is much more difficult to get an airplane to drive than a car. The lack of having a license does not keep people off the road.
People here know the rules just as well in Europe, the culture differences is what determines whether they care or not. Europe also has a small group of people who seem to not care about the rules, regardless of how much and difficult it is to get a license.
Life is cheap to some people and cultures.
I agree with you on all points and this is something we wont be able to fix. But if your not going to follow the rules lets at least make sure you know what to do if you mess up so badly that your car goes out of control.
Honestly I wish FHP would set up some sort of volunteer traffic enforcement force. Honestly I would do it. Train people in police tactics etc.. Like any other reserve police force out there, make them fully qualified Law Enforcement Officers, but have them soley focus on traffic enforcement. I would take a saturday out of my week and stop some of the idiots on the road for free.
The testing would make sense except for one thing; it is assumed the reason people drive bad is because they do not know the rules of the road, but in fact they do know, they just do not care. No amount of testing is ever going to do away with that mentality, no amount of increase in getting a license will do away with it, except having more unlicensed drivers on the road.
A pilot has a different mentality, not too many irresponsible dopes want to be a pilot, and it is much more difficult to get an airplane to drive than a car. The lack of having a license does not keep people off the road.
People here know the rules just as well in Europe, the culture differences is what determines whether they care or not. Europe also has a small group of people who seem to not care about the rules, regardless of how much and difficult it is to get a license.
Life is cheap to some people and cultures.
Thank you. Rep for you.
Charging people more when applying for a license won't make them drive better down the road...more revenue for the state to squander.
Basically, a fleet of cops could be reassigned to do traffic control and citations. Look at FHP, they mean business and you see people behave better on the roads they patrol. In urban Miami Dade, it is a free for all. Give the Miami Dade PD a fleet dedicated to enforcing traffic laws and perfomring patrols strictly on roadways and get serious about it. People would then be more "careful" because they would be terrified of the truely unthinkable- a traffic ticket.
Until that kind of measure takes place, there will continue to be more senseless accidents and deaths. When people realize that this insane level of recklessness on the road is not "normal" and come to terms that we have serious driving issues in South Florida, we will continue to falsely justify this careless driving by blabing a self-fulfilling prophecy to (literally) death-that everywhere is this bad therefore we should be moved to inaction.
I agree with you on all points and this is something we wont be able to fix. But if your not going to follow the rules lets at least make sure you know what to do if you mess up so badly that your car goes out of control.
Honestly I wish FHP would set up some sort of volunteer traffic enforcement force. Honestly I would do it. Train people in police tactics etc.. Like any other reserve police force out there, make them fully qualified Law Enforcement Officers, but have them soley focus on traffic enforcement. I would take a saturday out of my week and stop some of the idiots on the road for free.
as much as i like that idea it would turn into a corrupt as hell team metro. that would be the fast pass to widespread police corruption with bribes a plenty.
Charging people more when applying for a license won't make them drive better down the road...more revenue for the state to squander.
Basically, a fleet of cops could be reassigned to do traffic control and citations. Look at FHP, they mean business and you see people behave better on the roads they patrol. In urban Miami Dade, it is a free for all. Give the Miami Dade PD a fleet dedicated to enforcing traffic laws and perfomring patrols strictly on roadways and get serious about it. People would then be more "careful" because they would be terrified of the truely unthinkable- a traffic ticket. Until that happens, there will be more senseless accidents and deaths. This is because, as the Miami forum loves to say, "everywhere" is this out of control and we can keep justifying it by blabing that self-fulfilling prophecy to death.
I agree FHP does mean buisness and they do a fair job patroling the highways. By that I mean they usually dont stop the guy doing 70mph in a 55mph because they know in 5 mins someone will probably be doing 95mph. The problem with the traffic enforcement division is we really do need cops out on the streets for crime also. There is just not enough officers or funding IMO for that. But stricter enforcement usually does work look at Bal Harbour, Bay Harbour, Biscayne Park people crawl through those areas because they know the cops are out there and very strict.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cixcell
as much as i like that idea it would turn into a corrupt as hell team metro. that would be the fast pass to widespread police corruption with bribes a plenty.
Your probably right. There are reserve forces in the area but most do not allow the reserve officers to have much power unless they are with a full time officer.
The problem is immigrants from non-developed countries with no traffic laws bring their habits to Miami.
And having some sort of reserve civilian state troopers is an awful idea. The amount of drugs that run through Miami. They'll either kill someone by itchy trigger finger or be killed due to lack of trainng.
[quote=FlyMIA;20777858]I agree FHP does mean buisness and they do a fair job patroling the highways. By that I mean they usually dont stop the guy doing 70mph in a 55mph because they know in 5 mins someone will probably be doing 95mph. The problem with the traffic enforcement division is we really do need cops out on the streets for crime also. There is just not enough officers or funding IMO for that. But stricter enforcement usually does work look at Bal Harbour, Bay Harbour, Biscayne Park people crawl through those areas because they know the cops are out there and very strict. QUOTE]
Of course people will speed on expressways, that is a given. But that isn't the underlying problem IMO. It is the agressive driving...and FHP is ontop of that to a noticeable degree when compared with driving in Miami.
I don't agree that we need all the cops to be patrolling in the beat or in the station as is. When have you EVER heard of a cop shrotage or a lack of units responding to an incident? It is almost always overkill from what I see. I think it is more of an ego issue, like they are above it. It would be demeening to be reassigned to that line of work for some I am sure...but it is needed. If each district or area or however they are divided up dedicated a handful of officers and patrol cars for traffic and roadway safety, I don't think crime would spiral out of control at all. I think this is something they try to make us believe so that they can still have their nice cushy budget, status quo job, etc. I am not hating on cops either, they do a great job for the most part. But obviosuly there is a hierchy of things cops prefer to do and not to do...and traffic enforcement is not at the top of the list in Miami.
I am not belittling the crime element of the county, but I do not believe we are understaffed at the Metro Dade Police Department by a long shot. As in most local government offices, there is an overabundance of personel IMO.
If we don't dedicate people of authority to enforce quality of life and safety issues (dangerous drivers) it is no wonder people think they can commit other and more brazen crimes.
These incidents are not new to Miami-Dade County-----there have been several bus stop shelters wiped out in the past by drivers, resulting in fatalities.
Without being condescending, driving in the Miami area is taking your life into your own hands----its potluck.
I dont want to blame it on any segment of drivers or ethnic group. One thing is clear, is that it has been far to easy to get drivers liscenses in South Florida.
There have been several drivers liscence bureaus closed due to payoffs and scams-----computer files getting changed for kickbacks. Whether it is due to inability to read or intrepret many people fail their written tests here, and require some unethical help in acquiring liscences.
Miami Dade County has always been a bastion for fraud------when it starts leading to road fatalities, it is time to clean it up.
This may have not been the case in this situation----who knows why this accident happenned.
We dont enjoy going to Miami often-----the driving arcade is one main reason.
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