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  • Posted by STEVEDUNN46 10 months, 3 weeks ago
    Taxes are needed to build and maintain roads. Not rocket science. You can drive any thing you want unlicensed on private land. Minimum qualification make sense to drive a 4000 lb contraption at 60 mph on a public road for very obvious safety reasons.
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    • Posted by tutor-turtle 10 months, 3 weeks ago
      Yet there are far to many people allowed to drive that are either mentally, emotionally or physically incapable of safely piloting an automobile. and I am not talking about the people who voluntarily drink, drug and drive, just sober people who should never be allowed behind the wheel. Left lane bandits, psychopaths, self-appointed road deputies. YouTube has millions of hours of video proof of exactly what I'm talking about.
      I got run off the road by just such an asrehole. Goes ten mph under the limit then runs me off the road when I go around him.
      As far as I'm concerned, the rules are not strict enough, and the ones we have are not enforced enough. When my 85-year-old mom kept "bumping" into other drivers, it was up to us kids to clip her wings.
      Get a road camera and use it. It might just save you from a wrongful lawsuit.
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  • Posted by $ CBJ 10 months, 3 weeks ago
    "My position is fully consistent. Not only the post office, but streets, roads, and above all, schools, should all be privately owned and privately run."
    --Ayn Rand, Playboy interview 1964
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  • Posted by chad 10 months, 3 weeks ago
    Thomas Jefferson once warned that if America subjected itself to central banking and fiat currency the people would one day be subject to taxes on their drink, transportation, food, nothing would not be taxed.
    You are required to get permission to own and operate any vehicle, tool, or land ownership and use of it has to be licensed and taxed yearly as well as being taxed on any proceeds from use of these items. It is not for safety but for control.
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  • Posted by $ jlc 10 months, 3 weeks ago
    Drivers' licenses were not required - back in my father's time. When did they start being required?

    On the other hand, there was a brief push in CA, back in the 1970s, to make people register their horses and get a 'rider license'. I recall pictures with a paper license plate tied to the top of a horse's tail. No one did it, and the attempt died quickly.

    I think it is a rebuttable premise that there would be poorer driving and more accidents without licensing than there is with it. Does anyone have data on this?

    Jan
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  • Posted by muaddib78 10 months, 3 weeks ago
    It's a mix of personal liberty and property rights.

    You have the right to travel, they own the property and have the right to say how it will be used.

    In this case if you want to operate a motor vehicle on the road they demand you be properly licensed, registered, and insured.

    You don't want to do that and you have two feet, start walking.
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  • Posted by $ 10 months, 3 weeks ago
    It's a bit difficult to understand why DPS hires dumb people to give the tests who are making up their own rules and not adhering to the Texas Traffic Code.
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    • Posted by VetteGuy 10 months, 3 weeks ago
      Government employees on a power trip. Probably union-protected to boot. They can't be fired no matter how much they abuse their position or are incompetent. This seems to be true in any government position, top to bottom. State, federal or local.
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    • Posted by $ BobCat 10 months, 3 weeks ago
      I recall reading previosly about your DL renewal woes. Give them Hell, Lady!!
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      • Posted by $ 10 months, 3 weeks ago
        Listen I checked her test out with the local Driver's Education guy in our city and he was appalled! He asked if perchance she knew me and didn't like my politics. Possibly. I am writing to my Congressman next to complain because I intend to go to an adjoining county for my re-test. That's what I had to do when I was 14 years old and failed twice in my local county (they didn't like my daddy's politics). But I quickly got a license in the other county.
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        • Posted by VetteGuy 10 months, 3 weeks ago
          Good idea. There are a lot of drivers out there that shouldn't be, but from the sound of things, your tester was just on a picky power trip.

          The things that scare me are the people that are not paying attention - texting while driving, etc. They don't even pretend! I've seen several with their phone up in front of their face as they cruise down the interstate at 80+.That or in the left lane doing 50.
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  • Posted by $ puzzlelady 10 months, 3 weeks ago
    As populations grow and modes of living become more complex, new rules are seen as being needed. Never mind driver's licenses. What about helmets for mere bicyclers and full tags and permits for motorcycles? Are there rules for pedestrians? Yes, even that. Who gives whom permission to foist all those rules on everyone? Did we vote permission to our controllers? More and more becomes forbidden or required, in the name of protecting people from each other's careless mistakes or accidents.

    "Do no harm" is the chief motivation for limiting "freedom" of action, lest non-caring or ineptitude precipitate an individual to visit harm on others. So, we have insurance to pay off damage inflicted. And what does that do? All those who pay insurance and never need to draw on it because they have no accidents end up paying for the harm done by others. I assume that insurance plans are voluntary--oh, no, the government demands people to have all kinds of insurance. And so the system is established that controls people in all their actions by rules drawn up by the rulers. Who empowers the rulers? The self-appointed caretakers of the rest of us sheep.
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  • Posted by evlwhtguy 10 months, 3 weeks ago
    My wife watches a youtube guy that claims there is a supreme court decision holding that you do not in fact have to have a drivers license. He drives around and when they stop him and hassle him, he sues the local PD to gets a payday. I personally have not read the opinion and do not know the name of the case. I actually have a job and do not have the time that my wife does to devote to such pursuits.
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  • Posted by eckert16 10 months, 3 weeks ago
    Yes, it was not always necessary to have a license because back in the old days, you were only moving from one location to another and exercising 'freedom of movement'.

    just like other laws on the books, the law has become distorted with court rulings placing normal 'freedom of movement' activity in the same category as commercial activity.

    Commercial vehicle code....the law has been misconstrued to mean everyone operating a 'vehicle' or 'mode of transportation' on a public highway to be engaged in commercial commerce, therefor they must have a license, registration, insurance etc. Judges likely need to get back to the original constitution as written by those old dumb white guys. ... but don't hold your breath.
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  • Posted by CaptainKirk 10 months, 3 weeks ago
    Actually, I've seen a few videos where they refuse to use the WORDS "vehicle" and "driver" because those imply a professional, which requires licensing.

    Whereas YOU have a right as a PERSON to move your CONVEYANCE over a road. Especially a state/city road. (Not on a turnpike, likely).

    And I've seen the recordings where the police let them go.

    I know that many of the old tractors had no license plates. But drove on the roads all the time. (More politely than 99% of the city folks).

    But I don't pretend to know the laws well enough to inform
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    • Posted by $ gharkness 10 months, 3 weeks ago
      "Whereas YOU have a right as a PERSON to move your CONVEYANCE over a road. Especially a state/city road. (Not on a turnpike, likely)."

      Unless you aren't a citizen. (not at all disagreeing, just pointing out....) In the US, t's not because you are a person but because you are a citizen or otherwise legally inside the country.

      Yesterday we drove through ElPaso to get from Tucson to our (soon to be sold) home in DFW. Surprised to see a notation from our GPS that there was "stopped traffic ahead." I asked hubs to find me a way around, but there wasn't one. She told me way too late. I figured we were in for a couple hours' wait while they scraped people off the pavement.

      Turns out it wasn't a wreck - it was a check to see whether we were legally in the US. Remember that tomorrow, May 11, Title 42 goes away and people from Mexico are amassing at the border, hoping to get through.

      They were checking, I suppose, to make sure that some already hadn't (though of course we already know they have.)

      I'm 73 and don't recall having to prove anything like that on the roads before. Of course I do have to have proper ID to fly, so maybe it's not as unusual as I thought, but I don't think I've flown since 2017. And may never again if I can manage it.
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      • Posted by evlwhtguy 10 months, 3 weeks ago
        I already replied....but here is another thought...Why the hell are they stopping and hassling US Citizens anyway....WTF, thay are going to do nothing about actual illegals anyway. It is the de-facto policy of the administration that we have open borders, yet the hassle the very citizens that have to pay for all this crap. This is just like felling up grandma at the airport!
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      • Posted by evlwhtguy 10 months, 3 weeks ago
        That is actually an unconstitutional stop. There is a prohibition in the constitution against "A general Warrant" and a 5th amendment right to not incriminate yourself. . If you know how to handle yourself, you can give them the polite version of go fly a kite.....but you better know what you are doing. They cannot stop you and require you to show a drivers license unless they have "Probable Cause" none of which they have in that situation.
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        • Posted by $ gharkness 10 months, 3 weeks ago
          Yes, my intention was to be mainly in the "reporter" role, not the "opinion" role. I agree it was unconstitutional. But what do you do? We had a 950-mile one-way trip to drive and by that point we were super tired....and we were on only the first half of the trip home. I am 100% sure they would not have been impressed, had we objected. Or, maybe they'd have offered to send some of the 10,300 illegals that crossed THAT DAY to our house for a nice visit.

          Too much to ask to just simply NOT allow them to cross, but it wasn't this guy's decision. Also, to your point about why are they harassing US Citizens....of course, they don't know who is which. But another "to your point," looking at my driver license isn't going to tell him whether I am legal or not, either.

          Rights and responsibilities do not depend on "what's happening" at the time (that's what has gotten us into a bunch of this mess), so again, I'm just reporting. BTW I did see in one of the cars ahead of me, the border agent actually reach out and look at/touch someone's document (no idea what it was). In the next 3 cars, he was literally leaning back, just casually perusing the occupants (I suppose they also had their documents ready) with- of course - impenetrable sunglasses on.

          When we arrived at the point, he had a "stop stick" in his hand to raise if he so chose. He didn't so choose with us...just nodded and said to proceed.

          Home now, until next trip, and I just hope I don't die of tiredness before we get moved! :-) I'm too old for this crap.
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  • Posted by $ blarman 10 months, 3 weeks ago
    It's a matter of Public safety (or General Welfare if you want to get Constitutional). Getting a driver's license shows that you have the minimum skills necessary to safely operate a motor vehicle on public roads. Legal liability for any accidents/injuries/deaths falls to the landowner as a case of negligence - perhaps even gross negligence. Since the States own the land and build the vast majority of roads, the individual States reduce their liability by requiring licenses.

    It's the same reason we control air traffic: it's a matter of coordination in order to provide safety. We can certainly argue about the way such coordination is organized and implemented, but I don't think anyone is going to make the case that such order is unnecessary.
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    • Posted by $ gharkness 10 months, 3 weeks ago
      I have no objection to proving I am competent to drive, and I expect that others on the road with me are also competent (even though we know that they aren't all, necessarily). It's a minimum standard and I think anyone who wants to drive should keep it.

      Not to keep themselves safe (that's their problem), but to keep ME and my family safe from their incompetence. That's the idea anyway, even though it doesn't always work that way.

      My MIL is 90 and literally not competent to drive, but she managed to talk the (rural area) DPS into giving her a license last September. No one in the family would call and report her. Fortunately, we moved her to a "independent living" center in a medium-sized town, and her grandson managed to talk her into giving her car to one of the teen great-grands. She has no business being on the road as anything but a passenger, ever again.
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