jm@tekid.UUCP (06/06/83)
Yes "Better Than Most", most people who use
radar detectors are law breakers. And we've been
over the issue of civil disobedience in this
newsgroup more times than they have in net.politics.
For an Engineering Ethics class a few years back,
I was assigned the "pro" side in a debate on the
ethics of Radar Detectors. A little investigation
into the subject uncovered a few things that
the highway police (and city police) would rather
you not know. The most significant item is that
radar, in the hands of an untrained amateur
(read: a policeman just trying to do his job),
is not accurate. Unless you are the only
large object for miles in any direction, the
operator can't tell you from the next car.
Radar responds to the strongest reflection, not
the fastest car. If there's a truck speeding
1/4 mi behind you, it'll pick up the truck, not you.
I, for one, don't trust radar, and prefer to be warned of
its presence. It is possible (it happens) to get caught
for speeding without actually speeding.
(Warning, Digression Approaching...)
Radar is used to enforce a stupid law.
With the advent of the 55mph speed limit, the states
are under great pressure (read: extortion) from
the feds (DOT) to keep the speeds down. If not,
they lose their hiway money. 3 years after the
institution of the 55mph limit, DOT commissioned a
report on the effectiveness of the National Speed Limit
(as they liked to call it). The report was not widely
disseminated because of its "negative tone". It was
highly critical of the 55 limit. It contained interviews
with the heads of the state police depts in several states,
who, almost to a man, they called the limit "a failure", and
"a waste of resources". The head of the Oregon St. Police
said (roughly) "...it has greatly diminished the respect
for the law by the general public, and it has diverted
valuble resources towards solving a problem that does not
actually exist. Our officers don't like it, the citizens
don't like it, the only ones who like it are the bureaucrats
in Washington, because they don't have to enforce it or live
with it."
Don't tell me to "write my congressman and wait for the law
to change". It didn't work before 1776 and it won't work now.
I will write my congressman, but I won't wait. 1984 is next
year, and Big Brother is already here.
Did I get a bit off the track? Oh well, some of
my best friends are criminals too.
Jeff Mizener
Tektronix Inc., ID/ADG
Beaverton, OR
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