-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Healy <mapman1138@interaccess.com>
To: Mark Hirt <nxracer@mediaone.net>
Cc: team.net <autox@autox.team.net>
Date: Monday, November 29, 1999 6:48 PM
Subject: Re: A friendly tip
><big snip of funny story about SVT, cute blonde cop, and shoulder rider>
>>
>> The moral to this story... The Illinois State Police have a brand
>> new Mustang SVT with lots of well hidden "strobes".
>
>Isn't the real moral of the story "don't drive on the shoulder, bonehead"?
>
>Mike Healy
Agreed. I'd rather see tax dollars spent on catching boneheads driving on
shoulders and the like than on radar traps in areas where speed is not a
public danger. The sad part is that radar does not work very well except
where speed is not a public danger. I'm all for junking the radar guns and
putting the officers so freed in unmarked cars and sending them out to find
dangerous drivers. It won't happen, though. Politicians believe "speed
kills" and police know that it is far easier and safer to just arrest
speeders on empty roads.
Glad to see that in at least this one incident there was a cop bucking the
trend. God bless her, and her superiors who support her.
I got a friendly reminder from an attractive blond officer. She did not
ticket me for speeding on the two-lane road even though the Lotus lacked a
headlight at the time. I have returned the favor by being extra careful in
her town...
In Minnesota, there is a tough new law about stopping for pedestrians. The
penalties are very stiff. It makes no difference whatever. Most motorists
are ignorant of the law. The cops never enforce it. They are apparently
too damned busy somewhere else, playing with their radar guns. Since this
is a situation in which people are fairly regularly killed, I think it
deserves more attention. Two cops, one with a radio and one in car, could
write a mountain of tickets. I have myself stood off the curb in a
crosswalk and had literally a hundred cars pass without stopping. Why does
this not rate enforcement more than some guy doing ten-over on a deserted
freeway?
But we are getting way off-charter here. I'll shut up before this turns
into (shudder) alt.driving.
Phil Ethier Saint Paul Minnesota USA
1970 Lotus Europa, 1992 Saturn SL2, 1986 Chev Suburban
LOON, MAC
pethier@isd.net http://www.visi.com/mac/
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