Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Above the law

I'm the first to admit I have a lead foot, and the speeding tickets to prove it. Today, however, reinforced my theory that people who enforce the law don't feel they have to obey it.
I live in Central NH, and the stretch of I93 from Tilton to Concord is one of the most-patrolled roads I've ever seen. I'm driving to Concord today and saw 3 (yes, 3!) police cruisers speed past me all at seperate times. Really flying too. I was doing about 70 and 2 of them passed me like I was standing still. Two were unmarked and one was a Belknap County (Laconia area) sheriff. Now if they're on a call that's one thing...but when people see cruisers without the blue lights on ignoring the law it just makes their admittedly difficult job harder. Police already have a major lack of respect problem in our society..and it appears the feeling is mutual.
Maybe our limited police resources should focus on drunk driving and crime prevention instead of being used as both an ATM and guarantee of employment by the state employees tying up our court system with speeding tickets and ruining the life of some poor bastard over a quarter ounce of pot.
Speed doesn't kill...bad driving kills. Alcohol's cost to society is already staggering but filling our jails and clogging our courts with harmless recreational drug users just increases the cost and solves nothing.

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