Quote:
Originally Posted by steve185
Nothing ever happens and nobody ever gets killed on an empty highway right? The laws are there for a reason, imagine if there were no traffic laws or they were not enforced, how safe would you feel about having loved ones on the highway? There always seems to be a lot of complaining on this board about law enforcement, but how safe would our communities be without it.
Steve
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Like Doyle says, I think most of us appreciate and respect cops a great deal. The work they do in our communities cannot be overstated; it makes us all safer from criminal activity. Speed enforcement is, however, different.
There are many countries, and even still some states, where speeding on rural backroads with no one around goes entirely unnoticed by the authorities. Even if a limit is posted. No one is any less safe because of that. Employing police officers to monitor speeds on those roads, and issue fines to those that exceed the somewhat arbitrary limits, is not the best or most effective use of their time. That used to be recognized, and cops didn't just sit with a radar gun filling up ticket books. Maybe partly because it was so damn hard to get a conviction. If they saw you doing something dangerous, they would certainly stop and cite you. But not for ten, fifteen, twenty over on a wide open lonely road. Just wasn't worth their time and effort. There was then, and remains today, no real impact on public safety.
Now, however, some one has decided it is worth their effort. Not because things suddenly got more dangerous on our roads. It is worth it today simply because the burden of proof has changed from "reasonable doubt" to "preponderance". They can convict anyone, and collect their money, with no case whatsoever. Suddenly it has become a very lucrative way to spend a cop's day. I'm sure they really don't want to do it any more than we want them to do it (gawd that has to be boring and unfulfilling). The powers that be sure like the money, though. So that is how they decide to deploy our police.
It has been mentioned that the vast majority of us will only deal with a cop in a traffic stop. That has held true for me, and everyone I know. I don't even know anyone who has ever been arrested. Yet most I know have a disdain for police, or more accurately for this use of the police.
It has also been mentioned that a serious criminal has more rights in court than an honest, upright, contributing citizen has in traffic court. That is very true. It is aslo a shame it has come to that. If the state is going to accuse a citizen of anything, from spitting on the sidewalk to murder, their burden of proof should remain the same. Reasonable doubt.
If we were ever able to return to that burden of proof in traffic court (and there are those working on this) we would see these b.s. speed traps dry up and blow away tomorrow. The State Patrol would once again actually patrol. Cops would be freed up to go after real criminals. The departments that have more than they need to do that could trim staff and budgets. And none of us would be any less safe on our roadways.