P R O F E S S I O N A L . . . C O N T R O L L E R S
Keep Revenue Sources on the Road © 2001
by Adrian W. Hollander, C.P.A., CISA,
CIA, CBA, CFSA,
President of COMPLUS Inc. – Professional Controllers
We have become a
nation of law-breakers. You don’t
believe me? Try to drive on almost any
road at the speed limit. Sit near any
stop sign for a while. Watch. How many cars did you pass? How many cars came to a full “stop” as
mandated by law? Not many in either
case, I suspect.
The paradox is that
both situations are examples of behaviors that, though against the law, are not
necessarily dangerous. If the driver
were observed and caught by the police, however, it could result in a moving violation. Three moving violations can result in losing
one’s driver’s license.
I don’t want
dangerous drivers on the road. Neither
do I want to encourage disrespect for our laws. Considering that more than 40,000 people are killed on US
highways annually, and there are millions of collisions, trying something
different should be in order. (Many
activities are just prohibited and a lot of not-for-profit organizations are
generously supported to deal with social problems that hurt many fewer
people.) Based on everyday observations,
it seems that very few people take our traffic laws seriously. Beyond that, visit traffic court and see
attorneys “getting people off” or people being allowed to “see a movie” rather
than being convicted of a moving violation.
Today’s rules and practices are not helping us.
Yes, let’s get
dangerous drivers off the road.
Dangerous behaviors should result in loss of a driver’s license, as they
are supposed to now. There are many
traffic law violations, though, that might better be treated as revenue
generators. (Make people pay for the
privilege.) In general an “illegal” act
that does not result in personal injury or property damage might be in this
category. If a driver might be caught
in 10 “speed traps” per year, why take a valuable revenue source off the
road? (According to our present laws
he/she should be gone after the third.)
If a driver hits something, that’s a different matter.
Realistically, when
consequences are clear and consistent, behavior is adjusted. When we behave ourselves, there is more time
and money to do what we want.
send e-mail to: AHollan700@aol.com