Speeding and punishment

[Borodog]

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Hardly, unless there were enough traffic cops to monitor all traffic all of the time. If they didn't stay hidden, people would simply speed when they weren't there and hide otherwise. If they stay hidden there's a possibility that you're of being caught at any time, and hence have an incentive to never speed.

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And how well does that work?\

Edit: But you do have a good point. It's still a racket, though.

[sternroolz]

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The point is that speeding IS dangerous and it IS illegal, but people rarely have the same anger over it as a crime as they do other crimes, such as drug use. People would never go for a "3 strikes" law that gave mandatory life imprisonment to every caught speeding three times. Is there a good reason behind that, or is it simply due to the fact that there is some chance such a law could be applied to them or somebody they know and love?


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Do you know how many people die each year in the United States due to accidents caused by speeding? I don't, but am very curious to find out. I'm guessing that the number is MUCH lower than anyone here would guess

[Gamblor]

While licensed activities such as driving and surgery do not fall under the normal provisions of criminal negligence, such provisions and common law emanating therefrom can give us an indication where this is likely to go.

Most criminal negligence provisions hold "wanton and reckless" behaviour as the standard of proof on the Crown's part (or the People, in the US). So in reality, the issue is whether you were acting recklessly. If you're driving 10mph over the limit but safely, that's much less troublesome than driving 10 under and like a moron.

The only thing differentiating between the drug dealer and the driver is whatever the statute makes it out to be.

The first thing you have to understand is that Criminal Law is probably the worst mechanism on earth for enforcing morality. It is designed to protect people and institutions from each other, not morals. In other words, murder isn't a crime because it's wrong, it's a crime because we can't allow people to murder each other and expect a state to function properly.

[theweatherman]

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Hardly, unless there were enough traffic cops to monitor all traffic all of the time. If they didn't stay hidden, people would simply speed when they weren't there and hide otherwise. If they stay hidden there's a possibility that you're of being caught at any time, and hence have an incentive to never speed.

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And how well does that work?\

Edit: But you do have a good point. It's still a racket, though.

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Yeah right, there are about 15 places in my town that a cop could hide. There are only three patrol cars in the area. Let them hide all they want, they'll still never catch me because they are too dumb.

[theweatherman]

The bestpart about speedingis that you dont even have to be speeding to geta ticket. In NY there is such a thing as too fast for road conditions. This means if your doing the posted limit in the snow/rain/dirt whatever, they can pull you over and ticket you for driving too fast. How great of a racket is that?

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"3) with the exception of excessive speeds, speeding can be much more easily reasoned as not dangerous (and possibly true) and is widely accepted as not very dangerous, whereas drugs are widely accepted as dangerous."

I disagree, especially depending on what drugs. Furthermore, the people who take those drugs are only putting themselves at immediate risk in health terms (they may be indirectly putting other people at risk due to teh possibiolity of addiction and having to turn to crime or whatever, but that's mainly a consequence of the illegality of the drugs), while the speeder is putting other people at increased risk.

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I'm just saying that the average person would choose going 5 or 10 mph over the speed limit as less of a wrong than snorting some coke

[mmcd]

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"3) with the exception of excessive speeds, speeding can be much more easily reasoned as not dangerous (and possibly true) and is widely accepted as not very dangerous, whereas drugs are widely accepted as dangerous."

I disagree, especially depending on what drugs. Furthermore, the people who take those drugs are only putting themselves at immediate risk in health terms (they may be indirectly putting other people at risk due to teh possibiolity of addiction and having to turn to crime or whatever, but that's mainly a consequence of the illegality of the drugs), while the speeder is putting other people at increased risk.

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I'm just saying that the average person would choose going 5 or 10 mph over the speed limit as less of a wrong than snorting some coke

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If proper care is taken, neither of these things are wrong at all.

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"3) with the exception of excessive speeds, speeding can be much more easily reasoned as not dangerous (and possibly true) and is widely accepted as not very dangerous, whereas drugs are widely accepted as dangerous."

I disagree, especially depending on what drugs. Furthermore, the people who take those drugs are only putting themselves at immediate risk in health terms (they may be indirectly putting other people at risk due to teh possibiolity of addiction and having to turn to crime or whatever, but that's mainly a consequence of the illegality of the drugs), while the speeder is putting other people at increased risk.

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I'm just saying that the average person would choose going 5 or 10 mph over the speed limit as less of a wrong than snorting some coke

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If proper care is taken, neither of these things are wrong at all.

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if proper care is taken then i would argue that drugs are not wrong (this would mean restraining yourself then shooting up) but speeding would be dangerous and wrong although minutely

[mmcd]

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if proper care is taken then i would argue that drugs are not wrong (this would mean restraining yourself then shooting up)

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What, did you see one of those propaganda videos of cocaine-crazed lunatics running around attacking people, raping women, and wreaking general havoc?

What I meant by "proper care" is that when using recreational substances, one must be careful that they don't use them too often and allow them to take over their lives, because the effects on the people close to them could be devestating.

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but speeding would be dangerous and wrong although minutely

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If they passed a law that reduced the speed limit on a particular highway from 65 to 55, and that law takes effect on Sunday, then driving 65 on that highway would be safe and right on Saturday , but dangerous and wrong on Monday?

Whatever arbirary speed limit the government decides to impose doesn't dictate what's safe. Weather, traffic conditions, car type, driving skill, and the general features of a particular strech of road do.

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if proper care is taken then i would argue that drugs are not wrong (this would mean restraining yourself then shooting up)

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What, did you see one of those propaganda videos of cocaine-crazed lunatics running around attacking people, raping women, and wreaking general havoc?

What I meant by "proper care" is that when using recreational substances, one must be careful that they don't use them too often and allow them to take over their lives, because the effects on the people close to them could be devestating.

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but speeding would be dangerous and wrong although minutely

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If they passed a law that reduced the speed limit on a particular highway from 65 to 55, and that law takes effect on Sunday, then driving 65 on that highway would be safe and right on Saturday , but dangerous and wrong on Monday?

Whatever arbirary speed limit the government decides to impose doesn't dictate what's safe. Weather, traffic conditions, car type, driving skill, and the general features of a particular strech of road do.

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please..you have to admit at least some irrational behavior can be expected from a person using drugs or alcohol

by my commen,t i only meant that a person using drugs (responsibly) can be held to only harming himself rather than speeding which cannot be guaranteed not to harm someone else... and this is not with respect to speed limits, i mean excessive speeds for the area such as 60 mph in a residential area