ark@rabbit.UUCP (Andrew Koenig) (05/11/84)
A few horror stories. 1. I know a fellow who was once convicted of driving while his name was on the revoked list. Big deal, you may say. Well, please note that I did not say he was convicted of driving with a revoked license. His license was NEVER revoked. How did his name get onto the revoked list without his license being revoked? By mistake. The state admitted that his name was on the list by mistake, that he had never been informed that he was on the list, and that there had never been any cause to revoke his license. However, these three facts were ruled inadmissible to the defense, as the only issue was whether or not he was driving while his name was on the list. This could not be questioned, so he was convicted. I'm not sure what the penalty was, but I think he lost his license for a year. 2. I was once stopped by a squad car for no reason while driving, as far as I can tell. The circumstances: I was in the only car on the road at the time. It was broad daylight. I was driving at exactly the speed limit. I was not doing anything unusual. The cop started following me on a straight stretch of road with no traffic lights, stop signs, or intersections. He followed me onto private property before turning on his flashers. He demanded to see my license and registration, took them back to his car to check me out, then gave them back to me and told me I could go. I asked him why he had stopped me, and he refused to answer. The only thing that I can think of that might have motivated him is that I was driving a rag-top sports car with the top down and maybe I didn't look as if I should be able to afford such a vehicle.
lab@qubix.UUCP (Q-Bick) (05/17/84)
[This line not valid where taxed or voided.]
Maryland does have one interesting check on auto-insurance validity: if
your insurance with a particular company ends, that company is required
to notify the Maryland MVA. MVA in turn notifies you, demanding either:
an insurance company name and policy number, or
your license plates.
Also, for each year's registration, you must re-provide this same
information. That's probably the simplest way to do it.
--
The Ice Floe of Larry Bickford
{decvax,ihnp4,allegra,ucbvax}!{decwrl,sun}!qubix!lab
decwrl!qubix!lab@Berkeley.ARPAron@brl-vgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (05/18/84)
If you read my article carefully you would have noticed a Maryland legislature mandated random check of the vehicles to see if they are insured where you must obtain a certification form from your insurance company and mail it to them within 30 days or your registration is suspended. There is no probable cause here. Just random harassment. In every other case in this state, all you have to do is write down the insurance company, agent, and policy number on the registration application. You don't have to prove you have insurance. In Colorado they made a rule that you had to carry proof of insurance to show in case you were in an accident. Great, my insurance company sent me a card that says "valid 1/30/82 until revoked." Could have had my insurance yanked the day after I got my card but they would not know that. -Ron
abc@brl-tgr.ARPA (Brint Cooper ) (05/19/84)
Also, Maryland requires proof of insurance (from your agent) if you are cited for a vehicle equipment violation (burned-out lite or bald tires. And a new law requires a random sampling of motorists provide such proof.
ntt@dciem.UUCP (Mark Brader) (05/23/84)
Me (dciem!ntt): >> ... You were *driving a car on a public road*. This is a privilege ... Warren N. Shadwick (teldata!shad): > I don't think we should allow socialist comments like this on a free net. > Please don't take that comment seriously particularly about censorship, > the free flow of ideas is good, *but* socialist thinking must be replied to. Me: The above is not Mr. Shadwick's main point, but Guy Harris and I have already posted our comments on that point (as posted by somebody else, if I remember rightly), i.e., we don't think that movement implies driving. What I want to say here is that I think Mr. Shadwick was confused by my use of "public road". I was referring to access, not ownership. It is precisely because anybody *is* permitted to go on a public road that people who operate *vehicles* on them have to be regulated. The attitude that because a road is publicly owned, the public has a right to do *anything they want* on it, seems to me to be closer to a socialist position than mine is. (I don't regard "socialist" as an insult, but it is not a description of the way I feel about most things.) Mark Brader
karl@dartvax.UUCP (S. Delage.) (06/03/84)
God-given rights? God doesn't give any rights. Rights exist
because of agreements between people. Often because the agreement
was made a long time ago, and the tradition has continued, but
it's still people. If God gave rights, and God also has the
traditional powers we think (S)He/It does, then I don't see how
they could ever be taken away.
Maybe this belongs in net.religion, I don't think God has much
to do with our judicial system. Besides, it was probably "just a
phrase" anyway.
{decvax,cornell,colby,astrovax}!dartvax!karl * karl@dartmouthshad@teldata.UUCP (06/05/84)
* Have you ever wondered where the term 'rights' came from? This concept is one of 'rights' and 'wrongs', and owes its origins to the anglo/saxon tradition that was finally embodied in the Common Law of England. By what value system were rights and wrongs to be measured? What value system embodies the concepts of 'truth', 'justice', 'oaths', 'honor', 'respect', 'morality' and not bearing false witness and many other words and concepts in our legal language? Every court that I know in the United States still administers an oath that ends, "... and nothing but the truth, so help me God." Perhaps it is my use of God that offends you. Thomas Jefferson, in basing the foundation for a new People of separate and equal station, used the word Creator. The concept is the same in my mind. I agree, though, it does seem that God is no longer with our judicial system. Or is it that our judicial system is no longer with God? I am willing to move this discussion to net.religion if you feel it is illegal. Yours in God and Freedom, Warren N. Shadwick