.Gov Honors Vets and Celebrates Freedom by....Ramping Up War on Motorists

[Bill]

While You're Out There Driving, Don't Forget the "Click It or Ticket" Campaign


By Aaron Reiss Fri., May 23 2014 at 9:00 AM

Whether traffic is bumper-to-bumper or nonexistent, the Texas Department of Transportation wants drivers to buckle up.
Police officers will be on the lookout for drivers and passengers (drunk and sober) who aren't buckled up this Memorial Day weekend. The Texas Department of Transportation will be conducting its 13th annual "Click It or Ticket" enforcement campaign in the Houston area until June 1.


According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, more than 800 seat-belt and child-restraint tickets were issued last Memorial Day weekend. Per Texas law, tickets can be given out to anyone in the car without a seat belt, driver or passenger.

Deidra Samuels, a TxDOT spokesperson, said there won't necessarily be checkpoints set up to enforce seat belt laws, but the number of officers working during the campaign period will double the normal amount.

But don't worry. The government isn't spending your tax dollars employing extra officers to ticket you for more money. Samuels said the Department of Transportation uses holiday grant money to put extra officers on the streets.

"This one, especially, is the star of the summer," Samuels said about Memorial Day weekend, when people hit the roads. "There are a lot of activities during the summer that involve not only drinking, [people are] doing a lot more in their car."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that since its inception, Texas's "Click it or Ticket" campaign has resulted in 3,962 fewer traffic fatalities and saved more than $15 billion in related economic costs.

John Cannon with the Houston Police Department calls the enforcement period "an educational campaign more than anything." The informative handout is a traffic ticket.


http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2014/05/law_enforcement_to_increase_for_click_it_or_ticket_campaign.php


Oh, HOLIDAY GRANT MONEY.....well, why didn't you say so? That's not tax money, that's holiday fairy money.


This is how our govt. celebrates Memorial Day...by targeting its citizenry over a victimless crime. Way to honor the sacrifices of our military heros.

[carlton_fritz]

If it was really about safety, they would use "holiday grant money" all year long and ticket more people. :leaving:

[LATB]

I don't see a problem with law enforcement using funds to enforce the law? :island14:

[Bill]

I don't see a problem with law enforcement using funds to enforce the law? :island14:

I'm disagreeing with the law itself, and noting the irony of ramping up enforcement of said law on a weekend dedicated to honoring our military heros, who paid the ultimate price to ensure our FREEDOM.

Of course, the tactic itself smacks of totalitarianism. Confiscate money from the taxpayers, then use that money against them. If we were, instead, using the "Click it or Ticket" "holiday grant money" to help the VA straighten out the mess it's in as a way to honor our deceased veterans, I'd be on board with that.

Honoring the dead by harassing citizens over a BS law doesn't seem like much of an honor to me. YMMV

[LATB]

I'm disagreeing with the law itself, and noting the irony of ramping up enforcement of said law on a weekend dedicated to honoring our military heros, who paid the ultimate price to ensure our FREEDOM.

Of course, the tactic itself smacks of totalitarianism. Confiscate money from the taxpayers, then use that money against them. If we were, instead, using the "Click it or Ticket" "holiday grant money" to help the VA straighten out the mess it's in as a way to honor our deceased veterans, I'd be on board with that.

Honoring the dead by harassing citizens over a BS law doesn't seem like much of an honor to me. YMMV

Correct, they fought for our freedom. Freedom to choose elected leadership. That leadership makes laws.
Don't like the law...or the leadership, change it.
You know, according to the Constitution those heroes died defending.

The law has no direct connection to the honoring of vets. To make the connection as an argument against the law, could be seen as disrespectful to the vets. No irony.

And, the problem with the VA is not funding. The problem is leadership. And, as noted above, the leadership is a product of the people.

[Allan]

Passed about 6 Ohio Highway Patrol troopers yesterday who were working one 4 mile section of a state highway.

They were very, very busy :). I was driving the vette (no front tag) and got the laser put on me. I wasn't speeding and his guaranteed ticket was no front plate but he immediately looked at my shoulder for the belt. I always wear the belt.

No stop. Guess the target ID this weekend really is the seat belt violation, a secondary offense in Ohio.

[69camfrk]

It's all a racket. Never has and never will be about "safety"....

[island14]

Fug em..

Fug em all! the stinkin bastards!

What gets me is they think they can sell this as a "its good for the people bullshit deal"

And they think we are stupid enough to believe it!

The only problem is... many do believe it. :(

[LATB]

I thought seat-belts saved lives so most favored the law :island14:

It is kinda stupid to have to wear a seatbelt in a car but not a helmet on a motorcycle.

[Bill]

I thought seat-belts saved lives so most favored the law :island14:

It is kinda stupid to have to wear a seatbelt in a car but not a helmet on a motorcycle.

Not smoking in bed probably would save lives, too, but do you really want a law passed that makes smoking in bed illegal? And if such a law was passed, do you want "holiday grant money" (read: tax money) used to step up enforcement of the law during a holiday dedicated to the memory of people who died to keep America free? Surely you can agree that would be in poor taste, at minimum.