In another thread a poster commented that alternate side of the street - sweeper parking rules are BS and just a way to collect more revenue from residents who forget to move their cars twice a week.

I realized today that HOV lanes are revenue-grabs as well. The state comes in and zones one lane as HOV to "help better the environment" by encouraging people to carpool. In reality, all it does is make other traffic worse, and more pollution from more idling cars in the road. Then some people look at the EMPTY HOV lane and say "Screw it" and get a $200 ticket.

Photo-radar and red-light camera scams have been common lately. Cities shorten yellow lights and then hit you with a $200 red light ticket. Several instances of left turn light signals being shortened such that its physically impossible to legally turn without running the artificially shortened light, even if you are the first car. With photo-rader the cities artificially lower speed limits and then nail you with tickets from cameras.

The "war on drugs" allows police to seize people's houses and cars if they suspect they were purchased with drug money. Then require the citizen prove where they got the money from. Due process does not apply in our war on drugs. Cities and states are pulling in millions of dollars per year on drug seizures and auctioning off property and cars. Has drugs stopped? It only encourages the business further. The more illegal they make drugs, the more money people will require to deal them and take risks. This drives up demand for the 100% inelastic resource and makes drugs more profitable. It's also profitable to cities and states who get to seize assets.

State highway patrol spend 99% of their time writing speeding tickets and generating revenue for the state. There is virtually no law enforcement work in their jobs. No detective work happens. No crimes are stopped or prevented. The only time they make an arrest is when they pull over someone with an outstanding warrant.

The more I open my eyes to the real world, the more I see that so many laws are in effect not to help people but to generate revenue.

What other ways have you realized are pure money grabs?

3 out of 4 involve driving, better get rid of your car and don't drive.

tripleB said:--Snip--.
What other ways have you realized are pure money grabs?

Your logorrhoea puts money in Tim's pocket.

My street cleaning comes 4 times a week! It really is a way for the city to generate revenue.

How about another take on it -

It's obvious that state and local governments set up things like red-light cameras, radar cameras and speed traps as a source of revenue generation - there is absolutely no safety benefit.

So if they want their revenue, and we don't want to be bothered, why not allow a sort of "pre-pay" system where at the beginning of each year you could send the state some amount (maybe $500) for which you would receive immunity from any traffic offenses for the entire year (with the exception of accidents). The government gets their money, we don't have to be bothered with cops and annoying fines. It's truly a win-win.

The biggest scam is NYC Law where drunk drivers lose their car to the city. The car is then auctioned off, more than 5000 cars have been taken away from their owners. Thanks to Giuliani.

And then NY got addicted to this revenue generation, so new law was put in place in 2000, lose car due to reckless driving. Yup, the subjective opinion of a cop can determine if you lose your car.

NYC

tripleB said:The more I open my eyes to the real world, the more I see that so many laws are in effect not to help people but to generate revenue.Local people make local laws. Shocking.

Glitch99 said:jmackdaddy said:
It's obvious that state and local governments set up things like red-light cameras, radar cameras and speed traps as a source of revenue generation - there is absolutely no safety benefit.So there would be no consequences to eliminating speed limits and traffic control devices at intersections?

The number of rear end collisions at intersections with photo-detection has gone up 300%. Rather than safely going through a yellow light, people are slamming on their brakes at 50 MPH and causing rear end collisions.

Glitch99 said:jmackdaddy said:
It's obvious that state and local governments set up things like red-light cameras, radar cameras and speed traps as a source of revenue generation - there is absolutely no safety benefit.So there would be no consequences to eliminating speed limits and traffic control devices at intersections?

These laws do have a huge safety benefit, but they're useless unless enforced. Like it or not, the methods you mention are the most efficient ways of enforcing them.

Of course traffic signals have a safety benefit; however, several studies have been done and red light cameras don't necessarily improve safety at traffic signals:

Text
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As you can see from that second link, both Virginia and WV have banned red light cameras. Other places have had the local government lower the amber light timing to below the DOT required minimum in an effort to issue more tickets.

HumDoHamaraDo said:Grizybaer said:tripleB said:Glitch99 said:jmackdaddy said:
It's obvious that state and local governments set up things like red-light cameras, radar cameras and speed traps as a source of revenue generation - there is absolutely no safety benefit.So there would be no consequences to eliminating speed limits and traffic control devices at intersections?

The number of rear end collisions at intersections with photo-detection has gone up 300%. Rather than safely going through a yellow light, people are slamming on their brakes at 50 MPH and causing rear end collisions.

drivers, follow at a safe distance from car in front of you.
In NY Area, if there is room between you and the car in front of you, someone car will move into that driving spot.

and if you crash into them, it'll still be your fault..