Red Light Camera RE: Lone Star Political Page

In my opinion Red Light Cameras are more of a hassle than they are a benefit. First, as you mentioned invasion of privacy, it's not just about a student's parents finding out he was out all hours, it's also about couples possibly getting divorced over the same type of situation. The cameras do not show the person in the car but do show the entire intersection and cars around them. In my opinion this is an invasion of privacy.

What if someone is borrowing your car? Are you now responsible? Most people for red light cameras say yes because you are the registered owner. What If someone borrows your car, gets drunk, kills someone with your car, and the cops show up and arrest him. Would the cops come over to your house and arrest you too? It's your car; You are responsible!

As far as cameras reducing accidents this Blog and News Article beg to differ. I actually have been a victim of a person slamming on their brakes for a yellow light and their wasn't a camera there. It had been raining and I had a three car distance we were moving at 40 MPH on a posted 50 MPH the light turned yellow when she was about 50 feet from the intersection and she slammed on her brakes.  I did the same but that vehicle had no ABS and the brakes locked up. I panicked instead of pumping the brakes and slid right into her. When she was on the phone talking to her husband she stated that she stopped to fast on the yellow. However, I was still at fault and my truck was ruined. Statistics can be manipulated to represent any groups best interests.

As far as insurance goes I have not seen a decrease in my premiums yet. Actually rates in Texas continue to increase. Funny thing is that putting seat belt laws in place was supposed to help insurance premiums as well and how is that working? Granted seat belts do save lives, but why do people get fined $200 for not wearing one? Especially if they have life and health insurance?

These laws are just a way for cities to increase revenue and create another tax on people. If they really cared about safety of their citizens they would allow you to take more than one defensive driving a year (at least without loops and hoops) or your penalty would be to watch a video of what happens when you don't wear seat belts.

You do offer a good argument to the support of cameras and maybe I am just sore because I got a ticket from a camera. I just don't see enough evidence of its benefit. 

Lane Sharing SB 506

This year the Texas Legislature has a bill before them that would allow Motorcycles to "Lane Share".  SB506 pretty much states that if traffic is moving at a speed of no more than 20 miles an hour, you are not in school zone and both the passenger and rider are wearing a helmet a motorcycle may cut between lanes at a speed of no more than five miles over the speed of traffic. I am a long time motorcycle rider and am very much for this bill. I tried to find some good opposition sites but was really only able to find opposition in the comments section of most the sites I was researching. Some sites worth visiting are: Motorcycle Cruiser, About.com, andAutoBlogGreen.  Here is a really good video of a California News Station KCRA discussing motorcycle safety and has two different law enforcement agencies showing different positions on the Lane Sharing.  Here is a video of Lane Sharing taking place. 

 

So now that I have given you a lot of background and information on lane sharing lets discuss. Like anything, statistics can be manipulated to show what one group wants them to show so I will leave those out and simply base the rest of this article on my personal opinions. SB 506 has many advantages and is really much safer than some may perceive it to be. One of the biggest factors of this bill is that it promotes helmet safety. Currently in the State of Texas you don't have to wear a helmet if: 

1) You are over the age of 21 and have either 

           a) More than 10,000 of life insurance (you have to show proof and pay ten dollars for a sticker to put on your bike)

          b) Taken a Motorcycle Safety Course

 

SB 506 requires riders to wear a helmet if they are lane sharing and like many other riders I choose to not wear a helmet but this new bill already has me shopping for a nice full face helmet.  I would much rather have the ability to legally share lanes than to not wear a helmet. 

 

Second, it promotes drivers to give up the cars and take their bikes. Think about how many motorcycle riders would choose to ride and get through rush hour traffic in no time flat!  This will free up space on the roads and is like adding an HOV lane without the extra costs.  If more people rode motorcycles that would also help the environment, motorcycles offer a smaller footprint than most cars and get better gas mileage than most cars.

 

Motorcycles are usually not radiator cooled like a car and gripping the clutch every few minutes in stop and go traffic can be very painful for a person’s hands. Allowing motorcycle riders to continue moving helps their motorcycles last longer and makes for a less stressful ride.

 

The list goes on and most experienced motorcycle riders are for the bill. It doesn’t affect the safety of other drivers on the road . What do you think?  Should Texas pass SB 506? 

Abortion In response to Lone Star Blog

This is an incredibly touchy subject where emotions flair and both sides feel very passionate about their beliefs. I'm not really for or against abortion and don't plan on trying to be the expert but here is what I think. 

It's difficult to say that a woman should have every right to do whatever she wants with her body because if there is a baby in her body it is no longer just her body but the baby's as well. If the child was already born and the mother killed him that would be murder. However when does the baby reach the point of "Human Life" ? There are a lot of studies and facts that argue different stages of the pregnancy. 

The argument that you could be "putting that miracle in someone elses hands that would love to raise him/her", in my opinion, is not very well researched. There are so many kids living in foster homes and waiting for a "forever family" for someone to love them and care for them. Why bring more unwanted (I know that sounds horrible but it is a unfortunate reality) kids to this world? What if the woman was a victim of rape? Do you think that she should have to look at the ultrasound of her unborn child to remind her of that horrible experience? Do you think she should be reminded again that she is going to kill the fetus because she doesn't want anything to do with that horrible experience? Who are we to judge her or to force her to go through that?

 We should be spending more time and resources on preventing unwanted pregnancies. Recently, President Obama was blasted for having put funding in his stimulus plan for contraceptives, but yet if more people had these available and we spent more time educating our young maybe we would have less unwanted pregnancies.