Measuring the wrong things
Posted in LFA Flashback by R Lee Wrights on September 4th, 2009 by David Goree
Government has the most amazing ability to measure the wrong things. Look at most any set of laws, you will find examples of this problem.
Look at our speed limits, they have not changed appreciably in decades, except for the worse, and no one obeys them. The difference in vehicles alone is enough to make the current speed laws idiotic. How does it make sense for the speed limit to be the same for a 1960 Ford F-100 pickup with bias ply tires and drum brakes as for a 2002 Porsche 911 Turbo with HUGE radial tires and brakes worthy of Le Mans… They measure the wrong things.
There should be no speed limits, there should be stopping distance limits. The signs we see on city streets should not say “Speed Limit 25″ they should say “Stopping Distance 60ft”. On open highway they should say “Stopping Distance 350ft”. Then your speed limit can be read off tables published by the vehicle manufacturer. Examples: 2001 Ferrari Modena 360: (60mph 110ft 80mph 186ft), 2001 Honda Civic SI (60mph 167ft 80mph 266ft) As you can see the Ferrari stops from 80 mph nearly as quickly as the Honda does from 60. Why should their speed limit be the same? If you have a custom or modified vehicle, and you can show the Court test data, you are the manufacturer. The same idea applies to other laws. Passing zone laws for instance…for the same legally required distance to be available to pass in a Chevette Diesel as a Ducati 998 is insane. The 998 can pass 14 tractor-trailers in the distance it takes the Chevette Diesel to pass a dog.
Equally ridiculous are our age-based laws. At both ends of the spectrum. When I was 18,I raced roadracing motorcycles with a guy out of Arkansas who was 13. He could get a license to go beat the hell out of us on the track, but I couldn’t let him borrow my street bike so he could go get a Coke at the convenience store, because he was only 13. Obviously it would have been safe for John to ride my bike to the store…but illegal…WHY?
Look at the other end of aging, I used to fly with a man that was a Pan-Am 747
Training Captain. He, as all US airline pilots, was forced by Federal Regulation, to retire on his 60th birthday. He is among the handful of best pilots I have ever met. (This list includes 4 of the men to walk on the moon) For him to be forced into retirement because of aging is insane. He runs half-marathons, and is in better shape now at 71 than I am at 37. As long as a pilot can continue to pass the required FAA Class 1 medical exam every 6 months why should they not keep flying?
Government itself agrees that age is a poor measure, as it is possible for the Court to declare a child an adult to prosecute them as such when it suits Government’s purpose. It should be equally easy for a child to present themselves before the Court, and declare themselves to be adult. I know this is “possible” under current law, but it is MUCH easier and more common for children to be charged as an adult in criminal cases than it is for a child to be granted “Emancipated Minor” status.
Another example: Drunk Driving laws… we all know people with dramatically differing tolerance levels for alcohol. I know people that can have 10 drinks and drive safely. My mother, however, can have 1 and I won’t drive with her… The law should measure the degradation of your ability from sober…not how much alcohol you have in your blood.
Our Government supposedly works for us…
We should be able to make them measure the right things…
Let them know we will not stand for idiocy in Government anymore…
Vote Libertarian.
Originally piblished in Liberty For All March 22, 2002.
