Joined: Aug 02, 2006
Posts: 705
Location: McLean, VA, USA
Posted:
Fri Dec 22, 2006 10:50 pm
Many people rightfully think it is not. And I do understand why, and I generally do agree to the point of view that people should accept the consequences of their deeds (or misdeeds, for that matter). If we had God given laws, I would absolutely agree with this in the case of traffic tickets, too.
Problem is, our laws are written by people, and people are not perfect and have their own agenda. Worth, different countries have different laws, and what is considered unlawful in one of them, could be perfectly OK in another. This makes me thinking that law is not an absolute moral category.
For example, perfectly moral and law abiding German citizen can drive 100 mph on a highway. If American citizen does the same thing, he is considered a criminal. Are people that different in Germany and America? I don’t think so. I don’t think the person is a criminal if he/she drives above speed limit – millions do this on a regular basis, and almost everybody - at least several times during their lives. I couldn’t say the same about theft, for example.
If so many people break the law, law is bad, not people, no matter what government says about it. On the other hand, American speed limit laws are a significant source of income for the governments on all levels. Some small towns along interstates just plain live out of speeding tickets! For them this is not a question of law, this is a question of income, which effectively removes traffic laws out of moral considerations. This became a game of hide-n-seek that drivers play with authorities and, as such, does not entitle any of the parties to a moral superiority.
That’s why I do not consider immoral an attempt to get out of traffic ticket, or at least to reduce the consequences.
Last edited by Misha on Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:34 am; edited 1 time in total
If I'm in the wrong and I know it, I fess up. I may not like it, but I KNEW what the posted limit was, and I chose to break the law. I am aware of the consequences if I choose to do so....however, at least twice by confessing I knew I was driving fast and admiting that up front, I have gotten out of a ticket and gotten off with a verbal warning. Both times I was going approx 20km/h over the posted limit (about 12mph) I think that on some (most?) roads the posted limit is rather low, but I also realize that not everyone is a skilled driver, and that the gov't has to post the limits much lower then most cars are capable of travelling a given stretch of road. why? to cover thier own a$$...and also to generate revenue.
Back to the morallity of it? Like I said I may not agree with certain laws, but I also realize that if I break the law and am busted for it...I'm still legally in the wrong. I could get into a moral debate here (as a christian) but I think I'll leave that one for another discussion!
Joined: Aug 02, 2006
Posts: 705
Location: McLean, VA, USA
Posted:
Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:29 pm
SilverSedan wrote:
however, at least twice by confessing I knew I was driving fast and admiting that up front, I have gotten out of a ticket and gotten off with a verbal warning.
Actually most of the cops are normal people, and they act friendly and reasonably when they see a friendly and reasonable behavior on the driver side. We are all in the same boat, or the same hide-and-seek game, and they know this better than drivers do.
SilverSedan wrote:
Back to the morallity of it? Like I said I may not agree with certain laws, but I also realize that if I break the law and am busted for it...I'm still legally in the wrong.
Sure, I did not really question this. I was just trying to make a point that being legally wrong does not necessarily make one morally wrong...
I've been caught once - doing 92mph on a UK motorway (70mph limit).
It is fairly common to drive at 80 to 85 mph on UK motorways, and normally the police turn a blind eye even though it is illegal.
When I was caught it was late at night on a Friday, so as I joined the motorway I had pretty much the whole of the M1 to myself - that's 3 lanes plus a hard shoulder with nothing much in front of me, and a quick glance in the mirror revealed nothing much behind me.
I was in a hurry, so I kept my foot down in my modern, well maintained car with ABS and new tyres and soon got to 90mh, where I stopped accelerating. Unfortunately I hadn't noticed a police car joining the motorway just after me, and they pulled me over.
I accepted I was breaking the law although they went to great length to explain how I could challenge it which was especially annoying - I accepted it, I was clearly in a hurry, yet they spent ages telling me how to challenge it.
What also annoyed me was that they actually complimented me on my driving (I'm not joking) - my lane discipline, they said, was superb. They must have watched me indicate, pull out to overtake a car, then indicate and pull back in, as is required on UK roads. So my car was up to the job (it was an Alfa Romeo 156 - more than capable of doing those speeds and stopping quickly), my driving was good enough to comment on, and there was no traffic - but they pulled me for doing 5 mph over an illegal speed they normally ignore.
Still, it only cost me £60 and 3 points on my licence (you lose your licence with 12 points)
Joined: Aug 02, 2006
Posts: 705
Location: McLean, VA, USA
Posted:
Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:31 am
LOL a year ago my last ticket cost me 2 days in jail and 6 months of restricted license - and all of that after a hard bargain with prosecutor. The road and car conditions were similar to yours, except for it was a Sunday morning so visibility was much better, and highway in that spot has either 5 or 6 lanes, I don't remember. Yet it has 55mph limit, and I was driving 105...
Laws are meant to break. It may sound odd but speeding in highway is fun when car is under our control. There is no sense in driving at 60 mph in a open free lane. People tend to speed up in these situations.
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