ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig) (11/12/84)
It has been mentioned that the solid white line down the middle of a highway is useful in the event of certain accidents: it provides something with which to charge a driver who has not done anything else obviously wrong but gotten into an accident anyway. This is an example of something that many lawmakers seem to do: pass laws that people cannot possibly obey so that when someone does something the police don't like, they can be arrested on "legitimat" charges. This is the motivation, for instance, behind many "loitering" laws. I consider this practice reprehensible. If certain behavior should be illegal, MAKE IT ILLEGAL. Don't make everything illegal and then leave the decision up to the police. Further discussion in net.politics, please.
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (11/13/84)
A few of you are missing the point on the white line issue. Take a look at where the solid white lines (or yellow in some cases) are painted. They are usually painted in an area that precludes the driver from seeing oncoming traffic from a safe distance. Take note that the lines are drawn before hills and curves and at on-ramps (N.J.). If you will notice the lines, you can tell when there is a curve or hill coming. Of course, you can go ahead and ignore the warnings, but if you should go ahead and pass in one of these zones and you meet up with a Greyhound bus, your heirs can always say that you didn't believe in laws and were a true individual. Some of these laws may sound stupid to you folks, but there is a grain of safety built into them just to keep the stupid from pasting themselves all over the front of someone elses car. It is too bad that we have to legislate safe driving, but there are just too many lunkheads out there who do not understand why they should keep off the other side of the street when approaching a hill or curve. I know, I know, your too smart to do anything stupid, but how about the other guy? T. C. Wheeler