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Which is worth more, living or just staying alive?
Washington learns from...Florida!
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Thursday, October 17, 2002Which is worth more, living or just staying alive?
Erik Jaffe (via Instapundit) suggests that some things may be worth more than life.
I suggest he is right.
A few related observations:
If giving up my rights prevents one death, one tragedy or one more Sept. 11, it is a price I will gladly pay. - Marianne Avery
Give me Liberty or give me death - Patrick Henry
Some things that Americans have valued more than life at times (feel free to suggest additions):
- Americans died to save the world from Germany et al, twice.
- Americans died to free slaves and preserve a nation.
- Americans died to be rid of foreign rule.
- Americans died to create airplanes and power plants.
- We still die to build skyscrapers, malls and theme parks.
Some of these might seem trivial, even silly, but if we could give them all up and reclaim the lives they cost, would we?
Washington learns from...Florida!
D.C. has found that traffic enforcement can be profitable, something the Florida towns of Waldo and Lawtey have known for years. Of course, the city slickers have automated the process and can mug drivers through the mail.
Traffic cameras are good and can increase the effectiveness of law enforcement, but some care must be taken. A ticket should never be issued automatically, but only after a human being reviews the images. Maybe someone ran the light to keep the truck eight feet behind him from running over him, thereby avoiding an accident (the alleged intent of traffic laws.)
I seem to remember (a link would be appreciated) that some months ago, a company that provides these systems took a city to court because they had lengthened the time for yellow signals, lowering the number of crashes and tickets issued. Since the firm's revenue was based on the number of violators penalized, the improved safety hit 'negatively impacted their bottom line.' Compensation like this should consider safety improvements as well as the raw number of violations.
Here's an off the wall thought some free market types might approve; contract with private companies for the management of specified interesections, with fees based on traffic counts and reduced by some factor for accidents. Let the firm use whatever combination of signals, signage, cameras and personnel it finds most effective. Generally, what you measure is what you get.