11 replies to this topic

[C Pav]

Lately I have seen and heard more advertisements stating that they are cracking down harder then ever for not wearing your seat belt. Why was this even passed as a law? It's one's own decision and has no effect on anyone else whatsoever. They need to pass the damn law to give tickets for cell phone use, smoking and any other distrcation not keeping both hands on the wheel. If they can see you not having a seat belt on and pull you over then they can more easily see more problematic hazards like I mentioned previously.

[ndboarder]

The click it or ticket it bull.  Granted they *can* save lives, but there is also cases in which they can take lives too.  I know a few who would be dead if they had been wearing a seat belt.  Regardless it should still be a personal choice, not an enforced law.  I know around here they are doing this campaign again and anyone pulled over will def get a ticket and no warning through sometime in June. To rehash the whole smoke,talk,etc while driving I don't see these as an issue.  I do not know a single person that keeps both hands on the wheel.  I rarely have both hands on the wheel and typically just drive with one hand on the wheel and one on the armrest.  Hands on the wheel isn't the issue, the problem is people need to keep their eyes on the road.  you can easily watch the road when doing most of the mentioned activities, as long as you are responsible and realize that driving needs to take precedence over a ringing phone or what your friend is talking about on the phone while you drive.  Texting is the one thing that they need to look at doing something about, as there is no way to text and keep your eyes on the road

[C Pav]

My point though with cell phone use and so forth and only having one hand on the wheel is that it's abused. People talk on the phone and drink a pop at the same time or talk on the phone, smoke a cig, and turn in busy traffic. People just don't get it. Another note about one hand on the wheel is if you need to turn or swerve to avoid something or someone. Not easy to do with one hand on the wheel. I do agree that eyes on the road is more important but my argument is if they are going to enforce seat belts they need to enforce things that are possible dangers to others.

[ndboarder]

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if they are going to enforce seat belts they need to enforce things that are possible dangers to others.

Agreed.  What they really need to do is start to require periodic renewal tests.  I don't think most people remember shit, or else they just don't care, about what the rules of the road are.  People don't seem to understand how 4 way stops are supposed to work, and do not pay enough attention in general.  I think a big part of the issue is that people have driven long enough they just think they are impervious and know all they have to do is keep their license renewed. I'd say when you need a new license you have to repass a quick written examination and the eye sight part (to weed out the little old ladies that can't see shit anymore and still drive).  Those that fail the written would have to complete it successfully AND do a new driving test as well.

[ryanator]

I never liked the click it or ticket thing.  Also, not only do old people smell sometimes, they also can't see stop signs and go through them occasionally.

[ccs729]

I think this is garbage on a number of levels beginning with the law itself.  It is a personal choice, and it became law because the federal government held us hostage, and said they would chop funding unless we did so.  I agree with ndboarder that if people just concentrate on driving as being priority #1 when behind the wheel would solve a lot of problems.   It also bugs me that tax dollars on an already stressed taxpayer is being used to specifically pay for police overtime to do this crap.  The police have to just be laughing to themselves.  "Sure, I can write a couple seatbelt tickets, cash in on the next paycheck, and everybody is happy."   I don't agree with people having to retake the drivers test unless they do something wrong i.e at fault accident, numerous violations, failure to pay fines, insurance ,ect...  This coming from someone who gets very impatient with old people driving.

[C Pav]

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I think this is garbage on a number of levels beginning with the law itself. It is a personal choice, and it became law because the federal government held us hostage, and said they would chop funding unless we did so. I agree with ndboarder that if people just concentrate on driving as being priority #1 when behind the wheel would solve a lot of problems. It also bugs me that tax dollars on an already stressed taxpayer is being used to specifically pay for police overtime to do this crap. The police have to just be laughing to themselves. "Sure, I can write a couple seatbelt tickets, cash in on the next paycheck, and everybody is happy." I don't agree with people having to retake the drivers test unless they do something wrong i.e at fault accident, numerous violations, failure to pay fines, insurance ,ect... This coming from someone who gets very impatient with old people driving.

Well I understand how you can get very impatient with old people driving. In fact when you drive a Z, everyone seems to be driving slow. :happy:

[ndboarder]

Well the driving test would just be if you fail the written, but I honestly think most people completely forget rules, so if you had to just do the written portion every few years to kepe it fresh in mind would it be so bad?  I don't necessarily care for it either, but they need to do something about some of those out there that continue to drive well past when they should. Mainly a couple little old ladies near the home town come to mind that were probably legally blind, but they still putzed down the highways....

[jmanz]

It's a BS campaign. Just using it to drum up money in hopes up nailing people with other things....suspended liscense, dui, warrants.....

[davec]

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It's a BS campaign. Just using it to drum up money in hopes up nailing people with other things....suspended liscense, dui, warrants.....

I would agree with your assessment. Revenue scheme purely.

[ccs729]

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It's a BS campaign. Just using it to drum up money in hopes up nailing people with other things....suspended liscense, dui, warrants.....

Normally I would agree with that, but just because it is "click it or ticket" season, it is still a secondary offense, meaning they have to have another reason to pull people over.  I think it is going to be a loss of money trying to pay the overtime for police.  Granted the overtime will likely lead to more stops just so they can justify the program with numbers, but I still think its a waste of money, and something of an invasion.  So in short I agree it is  a BS campaign, but not a big money maker.

[ndboarder]

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Normally I would agree with that, but just because it is "click it or ticket" season, it is still a secondary offense, meaning they have to have another reason to pull people over.  I think it is going to be a loss of money trying to pay the overtime for police.  Granted the overtime will likely lead to more stops just so they can justify the program with numbers, but I still think its a waste of money, and something of an invasion.  So in short I agree it is  a BS campaign, but not a big money maker.

Depends.... I know on 45th in Fargo they are using it as a speed trap since it's normally a 40mph road and currently with construction it is 25 mph.  I've heard they've ticketed over 400 people on some days with the average ticket being over the minimum $80 fine for speeding in construction.  Given the click-it-or-ticket on top of that and it've over 100 dollars per stop.  Pretty quick $40,000+ dollars for the city