Hashemian Blog

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I have to admit to a bit of sympathy for the convicted schemer, Bernie Madoff, when I saw his picture today (he pleaded guilty today). I suppose if I had lost my life's savings in his game, I wouldn't be so forgiving. There's probably something about sentencing frail old men or women that gives it an aura of cruelty, regardless of what these people were like at their height of power.

Even though Madoff and other white collar criminals spend their sentences in minimum security penitentiaries and don't face the harsh times experienced by violent criminals, the fact remains that they are locked up and taxpayers will have to foot the bills.

There must be a more humane way to mete out justice with less burden on the society. For example the government could seize all their assets, strap a monitoring device on them and give them a small monthly stipend and food stamps equivalent to what people on welfare receive and then let them loose.

That sort of punishment is a more humane way of treating white collar criminals and it's probably more cost effective than locking them up in some expensive institution. Their criminal records and their monitoring devices will keep them in check, while they get a taste of life as a part of the underprivileged class of people struggling to survive.

madoff,ponzi scheme,criminal justice,welfare

Since my last seatbelt ticket I have given the seatbelt law some thoughts. While in my mind this is an oppressive rule, there is one other side of this law that I hadn't considered before. I have always argued against mandatory seatbelts due to infringement on personal freedom. I don't disagree that they can help save lives and minimize bodily harm. And yes, there is the potential for curbing additional societal cost (police, medical, etc.), but that could lead to the slippery slope of banning many activities since there's always some level of risk and potential financial loss associated with them.

My position is that as long as the risk is generally on the risk-taker, personal freedom should trump protection of self by coercion. In extending that argument to seatbelts, I had neglected to consider another side of this issue and that is the possibility of severe financial and emotional risk to others.

The new perspective popped into my head while driving to work the other day. Suppose that due to my negligence I cause an accident. And suppose the other driver wasn't wearing his seatbelt and as a result he is gravely injured or he dies. Since the accident was my fault I would be faced with a large financial liability, not to mention the emotional guilt I would suffer for causing injury or death to another individual. If only he was wearing his seatbelt, he might have walked away from the accident with superficial wounds. I would still be liable for property damage and medical treatment, but the scope of damages would be much smaller and my emotional stress would be nowhere near that of the first scenario.

So it can be argued that by not wearing my seatbelt I'm creating additional risk not only for myself but more importantly for other drivers as well. Looking at this argument from a non-selfish point of view I have now begun to realize that if I am the cause of an accident I hope that the other driver was buckled up. But even if the fault was with the other driver and he wasn't buckled up, I might still suffer the trauma of having been involved in a fatal collision. Judging on that, perhaps the seatbelt law isn't as oppressive as I had initially thought. Of course this argument can again enter a slippery slope and extend far beyond wearing seatbelts, but that's a subject for another time.

btw, which is the correct spelling, seatbelt or seat belt, or both? If had to guess I'd go with the latter (Wikipedia also has the latter), but I have also seen the former used frequently.

seatbelts,traffic laws,accidents,lawsuits

And so the law caught up with me again for the third time, barely 9 months after my last seatbelt ticket. This time I was caught in my own little hometown while driving to work. I was alert enough to see the cop standing by the side of the road looking into cars. I scrambled to grab the belt but it kept slipping out of my hand and by the time I had a good grip, I was spotted and got pointed out of the traffic. Game over.

As I waited for the cop while he was checking my license and registration, I thought the only thing I hated more than wearing the seatbelt was to pay the fine. I could mount no defense. I had clearly broken the law and the officer was just doing his job. Other than that, I consider myself a law-abiding driver. I drive defensively, observe all traffic rules, and I don’t chatter on a cell phone. I don't even have a cell phone. The policeman's gruff manner had changed by the time he returned. He actually apologized for taking long to check my papers (I had handed him an expired registration) and gave me a $37 ticket. Not too painful, considering the fact that my last one was over $100.

I suppose being a town resident had something to do with softening him up. The police department is requesting a sizeable budget from the town for upgrades and there's a lot of grumbling from the taxpayers who are fed up with high taxes. The referendum is coming up soon and there's no need to harass the already irritated residents.

As I continued my commute with the seatbelt fastened I kept fighting the contraption to get some breathing room. I felt like a shackled prisoner in my car, trapped and pinned down to my seat. Several times I was distracted from the road while I kept yanking on the belt to loosen the death grip. Clearly this wasn't going to work.

Obviously fighting this law through civil disobedience was going to cost me a lot of money and a bad record. The apparent solution was in the form of a small keychain store card. I pulled the belt far enough to keep it loose about me and then jammed the card through the slit on the top hook. That put enough pressure on the belt preventing it from being recoiled by the spring. After adjusting the length several times, I think I finally achieved a good balance between looseness and a buckled seatbelt.

I'm not sure if what I've done is illegal or constitutes tampering, worthy of a fine. while I have slightly inhibited the natural operation of the seatbelt, I haven’t made any changes to the mechanism itself. I consider it more of a superficial adjustment, but I suppose it has somewhat reduced the belt's safety factor. For now this allows me to be a more alert driver, while hopefully dodging another ticket.

By the way, I don't recommend anyone doing this. Drive safely and wear your seatbelts.

seatbelts,law,seatbelt law,traffic,police,traffic laws