beet1e,
First, some of the laws that regulate behaviour of people not affecting others are clearly freedom-limiting and unnecessary intrusion.
Seatbelt laws are prime example of such. Speed limits are as clearly not - as the speed with which you drive affects the risk to other people.
Now to problems with your article:
1.
...as Nanny has decided that I must wear my shoulder belt at all times, even for reversing. Every such "automatic" belt that I've ever seen has a latch where it is attached to the door - so you can release it and even leave it out - if you don't mind a reminder light on your dashboard. In fact not providing a latch would have been a major safety and law violation - it would prevent a person from hetting away or being rescued from a car if a door is stuck.
You must feel very stupid here ranting about
our stupidity and not noticing that red release button right next to your ear.
2.
It is a convex mirror to give a wider angle of view It is only obvious from a very close examination - even by touch the mirror seems flat. Some mirrors have convex
inner reflecting surface and perfectly flat outer surface.
3.
In the US, they recognise that not everyone did Physics at school, and so a driver will be reminded of the properties of a convex mirror Absolutely true, why would it be a "nannyism", if by nannyism you mean an unreasonable intrusion?
4.
”apply footbrake before shifting out of Park” You will have to prove to me that it's a state initiative rather than an auto-manufacturer trying to prevent people from yanking the lever off.
You should know that the requirements for obtaining a driver license are very liberal here - you do not need any formal education. Reading a 15-page booklet, "studying" the meaning of all 5 road signs used in US and answering 75% of 20 questions is enough to get a learner's permit. The driving test is very easy. Drive, stop, park - in some places not even a real parallel park required. Some people pass it with all of half an hour experience.
5.
But even if you do not agree, Nanny has spoken – you will reduce speed to 20mph. You are confusing that with a local regulation. I can apply and get a speed-bump installed on my street without any involvement from federal or even state government. Try not to agree with that!
6.
A book the size of the New Testament! Everything you could want to know is in there... Usually there is a concise section on "getting started" and a table of content.
7.
Isn’t the driver allowed to figure out that if there are curves that he might need to slow down? Apparently not. What if he figures that he can take the turn at 75 mph? 90mph? Loses control and hits otehr vehicles? I want to be protected from other people using the public roadways for dangerous experiments. Why would anyone have a problem with that?
Gues what, one is not allowed to shoot my rifle at the street in Brookly even though he may be pretty sure of not hitting anyone!
8.
These were a couple of Google searches I did. Allowing for the disparity of the UK/US population size, it seems to me at first glance that the US has about eight times as many alcohol related road deaths as we do! You really cannot be as stupid as that! I bet Mongolia has even better alcohol-related traffic accidents per population than UK!
Have you ever though that traffic accidents may somehow relate to the percentage of car ownership or, better yet, miles travelled by car or even better - time spent travelling in a car?
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In 1997, total vehicle miles traveled by automobiles in Japan, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Canada, and the United Kingdom combined equaled 1.6 trillion. In that same year, total vehicle miles traveled by automobiles alone in the US were 1.4 trillion. U.S. households spend, on average, 19 percent of their income on transportation.--------------------
The numbers show per-capita miles travelled ~5500 in UK vs about ~10,000 in US. The time disparity is probably even greater. US stats are worse that UK but not nearly 8-fold. And it's very regional - which is known and reflected in our insurance rates.
If you live in an area where "diversity" presence is significant, you can pay $3,000 a year for
liability insurance which would cost you $600 in an area 20 miles away.
There are very diffent people living in US.
miko
