On 2/22/05 10:24 PM, "Scott McGerik" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Accidents happen. Try to collect from the person that hit your car. > But, really, how would a red light camera or anything else have > prevented your car from getting hit (except maybe if you had not parked > on the street)? As you said, "Did anyone honestly think not�being able > to get a license would prevent them from trying to drive?" > > My message is not about blaming the victim. My message is about > accepting the fact that unwanted events happen and that no laws will > prevent that. Only our viligence might. "Might" is the keyword. > > And regarding "stop[ing] and proceed[ing] slowly through a green light > to ensure no one will ...�run a red light and hit us", I do it every > day. And, my house was burglarized twice when I lived in Minneapolis, > so, don't talk down to me about "blaming the victim." Like I said, > accidents happen. Rather, in this case, crime happens. After I was > burglarized, I modified my house to be more burglar-proof. Had I known > the perps who burglarized my house, I would have went after them, but I > didn't and don't. And as frustrating as that is, I know that no law > against burglary would have prevented it. To this day, I don't believe > that appealing to the "authorities" for more laws will protect my house > from being burglarized (or from my car from being clobbered by an > undocumented drunk resident of Blaine).
The problem I have with this logic is that it seems to be presuming that some new or additional laws are being sought to help prevent accidents caused by red light runners. It seems to me that all the cameras do is serve as another tool to help enforce the laws we already have. And they can do it much more cost-effectively and efficiently than trying to place traffic cops at every intersection where accidents happen regularly or has otherwise been noted for red light running violations occurring frequently. While it may well be true that the vast majority of us already understand and accept the concept that the red light means stop, there's still enough people who haven't seemed to grasp that notion to make red light cameras a worthwhile investment. I think it's also safe to say that the vast majority of us understand that burglary is a bad thing/illegal. Does that mean we shouldn't bother to try enforcing that law anymore? We may not be able to prevent every burglary, but we can still punish the burglars we do apprehend and hope that the punishment helps them gain some respect for the law or at the very least, we can lock them up so they cannot commit that crime anymore for a while. Heck, maybe having red light cameras would even allow existing police staffing to focus more on doing stuff like catching burglars? That would seem like a good deal to me. Mark Snyder Windom Park REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
