Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ncr-sd.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!ittatc!dcdwest!sdcsvax!ncr-sd!geoff From: geoff@ncr-sd.UUCP (Geoffrey Walton) Newsgroups: net.legal Subject: Re: Driving as a right or privilege / "for your own good" Message-ID: <314@ncr-sd.UUCP> Date: Mon, 28-Oct-85 18:24:55 EST Article-I.D.: ncr-sd.314 Posted: Mon Oct 28 18:24:55 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 29-Oct-85 14:44:56 EST References: <193@l5.uucp> <805@x.UUCP> <150@nitrex.UUCP> <3717@dartvax.UUCP> Distribution: na Organization: NCR Corporation, Torrey Pines Lines: 77 > In article <150@nitrex.UUCP> rob@nitrex.UUCP (rob robertson) writes: > >In article <805@x.UUCP> jb@x.UUCP (Jim Burnett) writes: > >>Driving as a right not a privilege? That is one of the most absurd > >>statements I have heard in a long time. You think just because you > >>are of legal age and can somehow procure an automobile, you should > >>be allowed to travel on PUBLIC highways. Wrong...wrong...wrong. > > > >This isn't so much of a flame as a point to ponder about the American reliance > >on cars, but unless one lives in a big city with a rapid transportation > >system, if you don't have a car you don't have a livelyhood. I mean > >who in America lives close enough to walk to work, to the supermarket and > >to a department store? This is something our society really has to address. > > Here, here. Although there is an awful lot of responsibility that goes > along with it. Driving is a right. > . *** MASSAGE THIS LINE WITH YOUR REPLACEMENT *** GIVE ME A BREAK!! Driving is a privilege accorded to those who demonstrate the maturity and responsibility to deal with the daily and frequent use of a potentially leathal weapon. The ability to drive a three-quarter ton (or more) projectile through crowded streets is NOT sufficient qualification; what is required is the maturity to understand the inherent dangers and to deal with the ever-changing situations encountered while driving. Those who do not display this maturity, or who demonstrate a lack of concern for the safety of themselves and others, while driving, do not deserve the PRIVILEGE. Is ther anyone out there in net.land who hasn't said, "That clown is a menace," on "God, there goes an accident looking for a place to happen," or "S/He must have gotten his/her license out of a Cracker Jack box," or some such comment? If so, you're lucky; if not, you know that some people drive with the same level of attention they exhibit when they brush their teeth. THIS is a problem which needs be addressed by our society. Before you light that torch and tune-up for your best "that's easy for you to say" flame, let me put the record straight: 1. I lost my license to drive quite some time ago, and thought (at the time) my rights had been infringed upon. 2. I live thirty plus miles from my office, and still manage to get to work every day. I ride three buses each way and spend three hours a day in transit. 3. I live two and one half miles from the nearest super market; but still manage to eat. 4. If I can't get somewhere by bicycle or bus, and I really want -- or need -- to get there, I ALWAYS find a way. It may not be fast, or easy, but I ALWAYS get where I'm going. 5. It is possible to survive (yes, even in California) after the revocation or suspension of one's driving PRIVILEGE. It may not be as easy, but it is possible. And after all, who is responsible for the loss of privilege, or for its maintenance? In a few months I get my license back; it will have been three years. In that time I've finished a masters degree, changed jobs twice, bought a house, and --recently-- gotten married. But more than any of these, I've had a LOT of time to think -- mostly on buses. I've also spent a lot of time looking out the windows of those buses, watching the rest of you drive to and from wherever. I must admit, the prospect of driving myself is both thrilling and frightening. Think about it, Geoff {wherever}!ucbvax!sdcsvax!ncr-sd!geoff Even the smallest problem becomes unsolvable if enough meetings are held to discuss it.