BIKE: Today's AAS Rant

[Jeb Boyt]

----Original Message Follows----
From: rcbaker
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 00:18:52 -0600

If you look in the DPS accident statistics, they are focused primarily on 
alcohol
as the one identifiable cause of traffic accidents, with the rest being an 
unsolved
mystery. I think the bureaucracies benefit from arrest and removal of drunk
drivers, while they do not benefit from slowing or calming the traffic on
congested roads or in rebuilding them to safer standards. Capital Metro 
likewise
never saves the lives of passengers who might otherwise die in car wrecks, 
etc.

There are no such thing as problems due to diminished abilities of elderly
drivers, due to the political clout of the AARP probably (like a certain 
confused
driver I know who was reported to the police driving lost in Pflugerville 
after
hitting somebody). You can go perhaps five or six years without getting your
license renewed even after the age of ninety. Teenagers driving fast with 
their
peers are likewise quite dangerous, but nobody knows a way to handle that
one.
----------------------------------------

Interestingly, I recently received in the mail a poll from a police 
officers' association about driving concerns.  The poll asked several 
questions relating to whether not enough or too much emphasis was being 
placed on speeding, drunk driving, and seat belt use.  The poll also asked 
for a ranking of problems, and I filled in the blank for "other" with 
"driving skills."  Reading between the lines, I don't think that the 
association was in favor of the recent emphasis on seat belt tickets.

Jeb

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