On MSNBC there’s a story about a Kentucky boy who checks drivers’ speed with toy radar gun. The story is cute, simple… that isn’t what caught my eye. It was these two sentences:
"Many in the subdivision are frustrated that motorists tear through the neighborhood at 55 mph despite signs posting a 25 mph limit.
Officials said the city will install speed humps in the neighborhood if 70 percent of residents agree and are willing to put up half the money."
Look at the picture: Although you can’t see much of the road, it looks like it’s a long stretch of road. If it actually is 25mph, it’s clearly setup as a speed-trap.
Now, look at the 2nd sentence – the city wants residents to pay half of the cost of the speed bumps?! Um… isn’t that what taxes pay for? Or, what if the residents wanted to just do it themselves? Of course they can’t do that. And, what about all of the revenue from the speeding tickets that the city has handed out for the people driving 55mpg in a 25mpg zone? The citizens shouldn’t have to pay a dime more than they already do in taxes. It’s SPEED BUMPS.
Sounds like typical government, unfortunately. I don’t understand why citizens let their governments pull crap like this. Small things like this DO lead to the big things. Yes… the "slippery-slope" argument.