why speeding is allowed

Even encouraged, in a way. That last post reminded me of something I meant to post up here weeks ago. I recently heard a very good argument as to why police don't use technology to crack down on speeding more. The guy doing the talking was a geek who had discussed with the state of New Jersey the possibility of doing some cheap (or so he said) work for them to curb the notorious speeding on Jersey turnpikes. His plan was to use some basic software tools to automatically calculate someone's average speed on the turnpike by dividing the distance between two toll booths by the difference in time between the driver's stops at the booths. If this average is higher than a given value--say, 10 mph above the speed limit--then the state has conclusive evidence the driver was speeding and they ticket him. No police or radar guns are needed, every driver is checked, and every speeder can be fined. But they rejected the offer on the basis that if such a sure-fire system were enacted almost nobody would speed and they'd lose too much ticket revenue. In other words, they actually need us speeders so they can take our money. As the talker put it, that's why police departments have entire units devoted to traffic violations and smaller departments devote such an large amount of their force to clocking speeders on highways.

Whether or not the story is actually true, it makes perfect sense and the logic behind it can be applied anywhere in the country. Speeding tickets are a source of income, plain and simple. The goal isn't so much to protect us drivers or they'd do what's necessary and achieveable to do it. It's not because the police have nothing better to do--unless it's a small town we're talking about--because there are plenty of more heinous crimes taking place daily that police don't even try to stop. It's all about the benjamins, period. And if nobody broke speed limits then where would they get their easy money?

So the next time you get pulled over, just remember that the guy doing the stopping is protecting his own income more than anything else. Comforting, isn't it?