Ah geeze, another one is at it again... - Granite Grok

Ah geeze, another one is at it again…

I first saw this on Engadget, but spent a bit of time trying to track down more of the story, and finally found it on a new (to me) blog called Suitably Flip.

Once again, we see politicians either worrying about something trivial or just believing that they HAVE to protect us against some evil or danger that we, the general public, just don’t recognize (translation: WE’RE TOO STOOPID).

NY State Senator John Sabini wants to ban spinners.  No, not the fireworks, not figure skaters – hubcaps!  These are the latest additions to making a car look cool – specialized rims / hubcaps that have two (or more) parts to them.  One part actually does the traditional job of holding the tire where it should be in relationship to the ground and the car.  The other parts spin.  

Around and around and around, regardless of whether the car is moving.  Now, the first thing I thought of was he wants to protect little children (or drug addled adults) from sticking their fingers, hands, or other body parts into the spinners themselves (some truly look rather sharp).

Naw….he thinks his fellow NY residents are far dumber than that:

State Senator John Sabini (D-Queens) has introduced a bill, now before the Senate Transportation Committee, which "Prohibits the use or sale of hubcaps which contain parts designed to continue moving when the motor vehicle to which they are attached is not moving."

The fine: up to $750.

In fairness to Senator Sabini, let’s hear him out.  From the "Justification" section of the text of the bill (search for "S01640"):

This legislation is intended to prevent automobile accidents caused by hubcaps that are designed to deceive other motorists into believing the vehicle is moving, or traveling at a rate of speed different than the actual speed of the vehicle. While the design and use of devices known, as "spinners" is benign, the use of these devices on public roads can cause accidents resulting in serious injury or death. The sole purpose and design of spinners are to provide the illusion of movement of the vehicle’s wheels and to thereby deceive persons into believing the vehicle is moving at a rate of speed greater than the actual speed of the vehicle, including when the vehicle is stopped. Unfortunately, this otherwise innocent deception can result in other motorists misjudging the rate of speed of the vehicle equipped with "spinners", and can result in the other motorist taking actions based on the perceived but misleading speed of the other vehicle.

 The mind surrenders to boggling.

Now tell me, when stopped at any intersection waiting for the on-coming traffic to pass, are you really looking at the wheels? No, you are looking at the car itself.  And if the car is standing still, but the hubcaps are still moving?  Sorry, but the car is still standing still.

I really just don’t get it.  I know that some laws are there for our protection, but don’t reasonable people understand that as you try to legislate for the stupidity of some, you limit the freedoms of all.

There are times that one has to contemplate the idea of having part time legislative sessions again.  While life in the technology sector runs at full speed, most of the rest of life does not.  There is time, or should be, to think about not just solving a problem, but spending time thinking about a perceived problem and reasoning it out to see if it is a real problem.  This is akin to the RC boat limits that my NH state legislator wanted to regulate – try thinking before putting fingers to keyboard to create new needless laws.  Look at the real reason for government and its true (and supposedly limited) field of play – and then see if this is a real place for government to put in its not so small nose.

 

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