[quote]Damici wrote:
I’m talking about 2 things:
(1.) Rules that are NOT set to accomplish anything in a way that actually serves the public good, such as the laws barring murder, rape, theft, etc. Speed limits are set ARTIFICIALLY low, i.e. they might be set at 55 on a rode where the natural state of traffic flow is more like 70. There have been scientific studies done on traffic patterns and natural rates of speed on given roads, and why it is actual SAFEST to set speed limits accordingly, NOT below that level.
A limit is meant to be just that – an UPPER LIMIT. These artifically low speed limits often create situations that are MORE DANGEROUS because people do slam on the brakes when they glimpse a police car, disrupting the traffic pattern rather violently at times. THAT’S BAD.
(2.) Antisocial behavior?? Uh, no, sorry. There’s nothing “antisocial” about doing 70 when aaaaaall of the traffic on that highway is doing 70, despite the speed limit being stupidly set at 55. That’s actually SOCIAL, not antisocial. The idea of randomingly choosing willy-nilly which laws to obey and which not to obey is obviously one that could be problematic if applied liberally – no argument there!
The point is that speed limits are SOOOOO assinine in this country that NO ONE obeys them. ZERO. And EVERYONE knows it and admits it. You cannot tell me that you yourself always obey the speed limit, especially in highway driving. (And if you try to tell me that you do, you’re lying. And if you try to tell me that you do but that you’d then “deserve” a ticket, I’d call you pathetic).
Laws that don’t serve the public good, and that are so patently ludicrous that NO ONE follows them (and everyone acknowledges it) are not good laws. They’re actually counterproductive, in this case. Such is NOT the case for the laws barring murder, rape, theft, fraud, etc. That’s why speeding laws in this country stand out – they’re so inane that no one obeys them to the point where everyone acknowledges it.
I’ve even been pulled over once on a 65 mph highway where the cop told me, quote, “You don’t have to do 65. Just keep it under 76 and you won’t get a ticket.” What does that tell you?
Fucking ludicrous. These laws were designed to line the towns’ coffers. What about that is hard to understand? If your trying to make a moral high ground “be a man, take it on the chin” type of argument, the single worst context in which you could possibly try to make it is in the context of a speeding ticket incident. Give me a fucking break.
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I don’t think anyone has contended with the point that not everyone obeys the speed limit all the time, and that cops aren’t out enforcing the speed limits all the time.
I think what’s in contention here is how you behave once you’re caught.
I can speak from experience because I’ve been caught doing shit I wasn’t supposed to be doing o’ plenty, and learned the hard way how to act. My initial post about taking it on the chin wasn’t coming from a bible thumpin moral high road stance, but more of a stance of “hey I’ve been there a couple times and have learned the hard way.”
You can scream all day long about how the laws are fucked and the country is fucked and the police are dirty and fucked, and the speed limits are fucked.
However, none of that shit matters.
The judge doesn’t care about your personal views or interpretations of the law. All he or she cares about is that an officer of the law caught you BREAKING the law. Hell, if you man up and accept responsibility for getting caught, the judge might throw it out, or grant leniency by reducing the fine, or by not taking points off of your liscence. You’re bent over the barrel at that point and it’s useless to continue the whole “speed limits are fucked and so are your cops!!” tirade in front of the judge.
You’re busted, you’re caught. Not your day, wrong place at the wrong time, wrong lane change at the wrong time, New York Giants sticker on your window while the cop is a Redskins fan. No matter what the circumstance was, you got the cops’ attention and he or she busted you.
Be a man, take it on the chin, be accountable, and carry on.
B.