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OK. I wasn't sure if you were aware of that or not. Most people that claim "big gubmint is too intrusive" are intellectually dishonest and mean just the feds, not local governments. I'm glad you are aware of it.
Speed limits are a fickle thing since there are roads that are state funded like parkways (most are within a single state with a few exceptions like say the Palisades Parkway) while highways and US routes are federally funded (due to many being in multiple states.) This explains say the speed limits on the Hutch compared to say I-87, I-684, and I-84.
Since December 1, 1995 all Interstate speed limits are state-set. All parkways and most secondary road speed limits in most states are state-set. Other smaller road speed limits are set by localities. Only speed limits in DC and other federal property are set by the Federal Government.
One of my EMT instructors almost died from a car accident as he was run off of the road by someone texting and driving. With over 20 years of experience seeing car accidents treating patients with sometimes body parts located in multiple locations of the scene, he now was a patient. He's lived to tell us about it.
I think he would disagree with your assertion that it's really no big deal to text and drive.
There are a huge number of horror stories involving driving. Some are caused by texting. Some by alcohol. Some and indeed most by other misjudgments, defects or errors. There is such a thing as risk management and mature judgment. Blanket categorical bans are just wrong.
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Originally Posted by Mikelee81
Add to that, the speed limit. There is a use for it. I live on the main road. So if I pull out and someone is clocking 80mph, they very well would kill me if they made contact. How many car accident deaths are caused by people 1) speeding and 2) not wearing their seatbelt.. This isn't even counting those texting and driving, which often turn into head on collisions.
How about 40 or 45 mph limits on main roads that have some residential characteristics?
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Originally Posted by Mikelee81
As for security on airports, I agree it's overhaul. What would you do if someone wanted to put a bomb in their shoe or hold up the planes with knives.
There is a reason these regulations started to begin with.
I would hire security people with an IQ north of 80 to observe behavior rather than tying the whole system into knots.
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Originally Posted by Mikelee81
I'm not all about overregulating everything. Quite the opposite, but some regulations are necessary. And many aren't. Get rid of the one's that aren't.
Preventing guns is not always real protection as often times gang members are larger than your kid and they ... well travel in gangs. I knew a small white skin head who always carried in school and I never turned him in because he needed that gun.
Until schools regain the authority to actually purge the undesirables completely out of the school the smaller white kids will need guns to avoid being beat up.
I am aware of the distinction but the Federal Government does get into the mix with forced lowering of speed limits, raising of drinking age, and other conditioning of federal aid moneys. Whether state or federal they're still overbearing.
Did you follow the Supreme Court cases related to state expansions of Medicaid?
This post is occasioned by innocuous events of the last several weeks that points to some glaring problems, all involving over-regulation. These rules and procedures are costly, inefficient and provide few benefits.
Security desks and entrance regulations at schools - A few days ago I went to drop a cell phone off for my son at his high school. He had called and I said I would leave it at the principal's office. I was greeted at the front door by a friendly and pleasant security guard. I had to leave it with him. We got to talking. I pointed out that back in the day I visited my high school alma mater and went right to teachers' offices, and to my old club offices. Now that would be impossible. He pointed out that there used to be all kinds of entrances and exits that people could use. Now every entrance is a cluster and a delay, all because of the one-off incident in Sandy Hook. We went centuries before Sandy Hook without such rules; are there suddenly hundreds of monsters out there that would kill children? Remember most such tragedies, such as Columbine, involve current students, not outsiders.
Cell phone and texting restrictions while driving - I get that people can be distracted by such activities. But wouldn't it be better if people could alert their destination that they were running late rather than speeding?
Security at office buildings - Right after 9/11 we began seeing almost all office buildings having restricted access for "security" reasons. Any reason a terrorist bent on making a statement couldn't just blow himself up anywhere he sees a line, such as a theater entrance or subway station? We have made it impossible for people such as myself, for example, who are looking for jobs to simply show up, hand in a CV and demonstrate motivation and drive. Or for spouses to surprise each other at work? Or close friends similarly? How many terror attacks are really prevented this way?
Security at airports - We have made air travel cumbersome. Thus, for example, I am planning to travel to Washington, DC a few weeks from now from the New York City area. Train travel is ridiculously expensive for a trip of about 5 hours. If I take a plane, back in the day it was a shuttle that was about a one hour flight. Now, adding security time at airport, it's 3 hours. Maybe I'll just drive. Heck, gas is cheap these days. Imagine the financial impact this must be having on the air industry? It would make far more sense to do spot checking, behavioral profiling, and the random use of sky marshals. But hey, it's racist to target people at war with us.
Low speed limits - See this thread (link). Low and arbitrary limits are only selectively enforced on a "shooting fish in a barrel" basis. They contribute nothing to safety since in general traffic flows at around 70 on highways, and 40 or 45 on most secondary roads.
All of these rules, and more that other think of, are annoying at best. At worst, they detract from productivity and waste valuable time and resources.
The only thing that wasted more of my time in life is reading this post, which, in just my humble opinion, a waste of bandwidth and data storage.
Sure, payphones are rare these days - usually only to be found on the edge of parking lots belonging to convenience stores. Now everyone is supposed to have a cell phone, which is fine. But my point is that I can guarantee you that 99% of these oh so urgent and important calls and texts are extremely banal, trivial, and often completely pointless. Today, people can't be idle for a nanosecond. The moment they aren't doing something, like while sitting at a red light, they go reaching for that cell phone. Voice calls I'm less concerned about - though I can't understand why it's any more risky to talk on a phone than it is to talk to a passenger in the car with you.
But texting is the next worst thing to driving while drunk. You cannot read or type while driving because it requires you to look at the phone rather than the road. Unless you're dialing 911 because you're being chased by a maniac or because a black hole just formed in front of your car and you're about to be spaghettified, there's just nothing so important that it can't wait - at least as far as texting goes.
Heh, I think, for most people, any sense of community ends up being destroyed long before they decide to visit their old high school. Hell, where I live now, I used to know just about everyone (it's a very small town). Now? I don't know a soul. Not a one. Everyone up and left, scattering to the four winds and destroying any sense of community here.
I've never felt any desire to re-visit my old schools despite having very fond memories of my time at some of them (I moved around a lot). Thus I can't speak for how school security might adversely affect community spirit.
Don't forget that revenue is also a large motivator for inventing a never-ending parade of ordinances, regulations, rules, and laws. So many dollars for that permit, so many dollars for this or that fine, so many dollars for that or this fee, etc. etc. The more laws there are, the easier it is to run afoul of them and your wallet pays the price. That's what the local politicians want ... big fat city coffers built on the foundation of fines and fees. They love regressive punishments, too. A fine, fee, or tax might be a nuisance to the better off, but to the poor, it can make the difference between a roof and a warm bed or a cardboard box in an alleyway.
Yeah, I agree with you totally on this point - and when I was in school, that's what I did. Half of my friends were considered "unpopular," the victims of bullies, societal cast-offs, those kids who are disenfranchised and living on the fringes of society. Most of them are rather normal if ever given the chance to fit in. But, perhaps because of their socioeconomic class, their ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical limitation, or simply because they suck at sports - the rest of the kids decided to push certain other kids aside.
Schools, too, are horrible about cracking down on bullies. Too many "old-schoolers" run their classrooms with the obsolete idea that bullying is just a part of growing up and that it makes kids stronger. Ha! People don't understand how being a bully victim can result in mental illnesses that will follow a person even into old age. Some can even suffer from PTSD - but hey, those "bullies" are just having a little harmless fun, right? If you can't take a joke ...
I don't have to put my head down to my lap or take my eyes off the road to talk to a passenger in my vehicle.
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I'm glad you are aware of it.