Police Hypocrisy...

[Quigly]

So I pulled up to fill up my car with gas and a state trooper was filling next to me with his door opened and I noticed that he had a mounted laptop in the front and a radar gun, a bunch of paperwork everywhere. He had stuff hanging from his rearview mirror and couldn't even see his passenger side mirror because of all the required crap in the front with him. I made a comment about how great it would be to have a laptop mounted like that with a GPS and everything... and he is like yeah, I would give you a ticket if you had a dvd player or a laptop in the front with you and if you had anything obstructing your view. You would get a ticket for each violation. He went on to say how unsafe it is in his vehicle with all the different devices that he has to use at the same time. I thought, oh great, we got a cop more distracted then the normal driver and they are trying to ban cell phone use in cars... He then said, I noticed when you pulled up that you didn't have your seat belt on, I should give you a ticket for that. I chuckled and said oh yeah, I must have forgotten to put it on...

So here is the point.
A. We pay for the police through our taxes
B. We pay for the roads through our taxes
C. We pay for our vehicles that are taxed
D. We pay for the fuel which is taxed

Which makes me think this, Why should I have to wear my seat belt. Why shouldn't I be able to have a laptop. Let's say you don't wear your seat belt and you hit someone, yes you will probably die. Whats different between that and abortion or what is different between that and allowing guns in the home for some person to blow their brains out?
Any thoughts?

 

[Dragoon]

Why should I have to wear my seat belt. Why shouldn't I be able to have a laptop. Let's say you don't wear your seat belt and you hit someone

Well, for one, let's say you don't die, but become a quadriplegic instead. MY taxes then pay for your your wheelchair, your healthcare, your welfare... (at least in Canada.) Or even if you do die, who's taxes have to pay to scrape your brains off the interstate?

We generally still assume that most people are assets to society, and as such aren't worth losing over things as stupid as not buckling up. Or maybe we just want a return on the investment we made when OUR taxes paid for your x years of school.

He went on to say how unsafe it is in his vehicle with all the different devices that he has to use at the same time.

This is true. For many cops, their vehicle becomes a second office. One has to keep in mind that they are specifically trained to operate all that extra equipment. And generally, they have to pull over before doing anything other than driving.

If you are concerned about an officer not operating his vehicle safely, you can contact the police office and report it. Remember, the badge is a symbol of public trust.

 

[SwedishFish]

why should you wear your seatbelt? talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face! no the cop doesn't really care if you wear it. it's for your safety and no one else's. your own safety.

they have computers for checking records when they pull people over. you don't need one. distractions cause accidents. i don't have any stats on it but i'd guess being distracted is right up there with reckless driving for causing the most accidents.

this thread is just whiny.

 

[sargentlard]

Which makes me think this, Why should I have to wear my seat belt. Why shouldn't I be able to have a laptop. Let's say you don't wear your seat belt and you hit someone, yes you will probably die. Whats different between that and abortion or what is different between that and allowing guns in the home for some person to blow their brains out? Any thoughts?

The car accident is almost never intended as a method to kill, juts a misfortune and carelessness on the drivers part. You don't accidently get a abortion and you don't accidently start playing with a gun. The latter two have some thought put into them, you can't compare those two with the former first.

 

[Quigly]

Yes in part this thread is whiny, but on the other side of it, I don't remember 90% of the time to put my seat belt on and hate the thought that they can pull me over for it now in my state and ticket me.

Dragoon,

I went to a private school or homeschool that wasn't funded by your $, but I do see your point to the handicap medicare part...

Good Point Sargeantlard, I shouldn't have made a broad comparison. I guess cars can be a method of a weapon depending on a persons state of mind.

The weird part about it is this, ever since the cop told me that I should try to remeber to wear the seatbelt, I have made a weird conscience effort to remember. Is this weird? I still do not like the thought of how much distractions the cops got. Could be dangerous. Cops have special training. So do I, I got my Grand Theft Auto Vice City and my Midnight Run for the PS2. Those games make me want to get on the road and drive crazy.. Just kidding

 

[Riomacleod]

Why should you wear your seatbelt?
Well, a significant amount of anecdotal evidence says that it is safer. Should you listen to anecdotal evidence? Probably not.

Why should it be a law that you have to?
It shouldn't. It is an invasive law that exists to tell you what is and is not safe. In fact, it's legal to jump from a 2nd story balcony, if you so desire. For now, anyway. Even still, it is the responsibility of the individual to make the decision to wear a seatbelt, not the state. It's been clinically proven that wearing a condom significantly decreases the chance of both pregnancy and spreading disease between two partners-diseases which many times eventually require permanent hospitalization, if untreated, and most of which end in death if left alone. However, you won't see any law requiring condoms to be worn for non-monogamous sex. Most of the current traffic laws exist to boost a police budget that can't support the top-heavy structure of most police agencies.

 

[truth]

I'm just thinking that you are the same guy that ties up traffic every morning on way to work!

 

[SwedishFish]

Originally posted by Riomacleod

In fact, it's legal to jump from a 2nd story balcony, if you so desire.

no it's not. as soon as people get through with crazy stunts like climbing skyscrapers, going over niagra falls in a barrel or jumping off a 2nd story building (if they live) they get carted away in handcuffs. suicide is one of those silly laws we joke about but it also makes it that they can arrest people for attemped suicide.

 

[Riomacleod]

no it's not. as soon as people get through with crazy stunts like climbing skyscrapers, going over niagra falls in a barrel or jumping off a 2nd story building (if they live) they get carted away in handcuffs. suicide is one of those silly laws we joke about but it also makes it that they can arrest people for attemped suicide.

You're thinking of BASE jumping, which is considered endangering the public.

You can be arrested but they still have to prove you were trying to kill yourself and not just trying to jump off the building and land on your feet. Besides, I can go to my parent's house tonight, climb onto their roof and take a running jump off into the lawn, and assuming that I don't die, and that only my legs are broken, when I get to the hospital, I won't be arrested.