here's one for the books...
I read a recent article in "AutoWeek"...Yeah, I know...but I was stuck at the dentist and it's all they had that was car related.
The good news: (bad if you are a proponent of MADD)...The Police were requested to drastically cut back on the number of Police Soberity checks being staged in "poorer" sections of Oakland, Ca. after numerous complaints from residents that they were being unfairly targeted for police harassment. In a review of records; The evidence supported their claims too! person note; I hate field sobriety check points; I agree, if you think I'm driving drunk, then pull me over, but random checks are wasting my time.
The Bad news: seems that as a side effect of the sobriety checks, most of the tickets were being issued for non-drinking reasons. Seems as if a very large number of tickets (actually "most"
were being written for drivers without valid licenses, proof of insurance or any license at all. Most of those caught were illegal aliens who had neither licenses, insurance, green cards... SF/Oakland both have a policy to not actively pursue illegals or report their presence to Federal immiugration authorities, except in the case of criminal behavior. Defying federal law, apparently doesn't count. So, the solution was to cut down on the number and change the location of field soberity check points to areas where there is better compliance.
Your tax dollars at work. What you don't see...close your eyes, Mr. Policeman, please...you don't need to write a ticket for!
Wish I could get a little help on seat belts, when I forget...or speeding, when I'm just a little over the limit, but "going with the flow of traffic"...or loud exhaust...on the way to the muffler shop. Is that worse than driving without a license?
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Beoweolf on 1/14/05 9:22pm ]</font>
