Accident scene

[pffog]

.................. The Sheriff also bought a new Camry Hybrid with some of that Homeland Security largess.

Hey around here we bought some portable kennels, I think with FEMA $$, so in the event of a flood we can transport animals. I will bight my tongue on further comment about Government spending.

[36654]

As to hiring(or not) more LEO's: here in my very rural part of E. KY we got more sheriff's deputies from the Homeland Security $$$. It's ruined my retirement! I retired the year of 9/11 & now I have to worry about the terrorists coming to Appalachia? The Sheriff also bought a new Camry Hybrid with some of that Homeland Security largess.

Isn't it good that they decided to maximize the savings in fuel costs?

[cehlbeck]

Until we stop issuing licenses like the prize in a cracker jack box, and start pulling them for poor, distracted and dangerous driving it will only get worse. We have people who don't have a clue, passing their bad habits on to the next generation, in a reverse Darwinism.

Maybe if we took away the guardrails, airbags, seat belts etc, drivers would get better or die, just like us riders.

To easy to obtain a driver's license and drive on busy, congested streets with other drivers in close proximity.

On the other hand look at pilot licensing at least in the U.S.. You spend THOUSANDS on training for a regulated minimum number of hours, pay to take your written test, pay to take your oral and practical exam, get a physical every few years (dependent on age and class of license) and pay an instructor every two years for a flight review. Then mostly fly in a sky where collision with another aircraft (or anything) is pretty minimal except for in congested airspace and near airports.

Get a driver's license? Show up, pay your fee, take a short written test, take a short driving test (sometimes in a parking lot), then take an eye test (maybe) to renew your license every 4-10 years. As it is, I can renew my driver's license online with a debit or credit card and nothing more.

[cehlbeck]

How much does fear of a charge of racial bias against LEO play in to lack of enforcement?

It didn't with me. I had an African American driver tell an African American judge that the only reason I stopped him was because he was a "black male in a white residential area". The courtroom snickered at the judges response: "This reminds me to compliment the Atlanta Police Department on the quality of the officers they hire. Because you're telling me that they can tell the race and sex of the driver of a car coming at them on a 4 lane state highway at 70 mph in a 45 mph zone, and do it in the dark!" For some reason, nearly everyone else plead guilty that day.

[markaz]

In Arizona, your driver's license expires on your 65th birthday (mine expires in Oct) no matter what age you are when you first get it. My kids say they sometimes get grief when they show their license, like to the TSA outside of AZ, and the person sees that it expires in 40 years or so. You do have to go in every 12 years (IIRC) to get a new picture and I think you have to take an eye test then too. The eye test is pretty ridiculous too...something like 20/70 in one eye. Kind of a joke, really.

[brownie]

Chris.......thanks for the excellent comparo!!!!!!

ATP Rotor & MEL, SPIFR