new motor vehicle law

I just found out Ohio has passed a new law that makes sense. 4513.03 states that if your wipers are on your lights better be also. In the state that has a seatbelt law(very un-constitutional) they passed a true safer for everyone law. This has been in other states for years and as a trucker I see it has been needed here for years. When morons are too stupid to have the common sense laws need to be.

"When morons are too stupid to have the common sense laws need to be."

Isn't the point of every law to protect normal people from morons when they are being too stupid? Like when a moron goes flying out the window of a rolling vehicle or through the windshield during a head on impact? If everyone acted in an intelligent and courteous manner there would be no need for law.

An updated version of ORC 4513.03 has been on the books for about five years. "...unfavorable atmospheric conditions..." has been a part of that law for some time now. Besides, you should probably know what you are talking about before actually writing down your thoughts for others to see...otherwise people might mistake you for a moron.

Have a nice day.

Shame on you for taking George Washington’s name as your own, while expressing an opinion that is clearly contrary to his beliefs.

The new law probably defines it better. I agree I cant stand it when people drive with headlights off during storms. GEORGE was just saying that as a truck driver on the road it makes other drivers difficult to see without headlights. I see it all the time. How hard is it to just flip on the lights. A reply to freedom would be this. We can not know what George Washington would think now because cars were not around then. I do believe he would be for the safety of the people. Also if he was around today I think he would be more worried about what our government has done since FDR.

Resident of NR,

I understand what the person identifying himself as George Washington meant. And, I agree that it is a good idea to use one’s headlights while driving in the rain. It is much safer, both for that driver and for all others on the road.

I suppose I jumped quickly on this one because I am so sick and tired of the concept that, just because something is a good idea, we must turn it into a law. We have too many laws. With each new law, we surrender a part of our freedom. It is that simple. And it is the surrender of these freedoms that has me so concerned. In fact, it’s even worse than that! Our governments, even on the state level, do not truly represent the will of the people, nor do they apply the requirements and restrictions of the constitutions (federal and state). So we are not surrendering our freedoms… Our freedoms are being taken from us. With each new law – good idea or not – we lose our freedom.

I do think, however, that we can surmise what George Washington would think about this, and other matters, by understanding the principals upon which he based his decisions. Because this matter is a state law (not a Federal one), and because it is a safety issue, one might think that George Washington might have supported it. However, by reading his writings and examining what he supported and what he opposed in his day, I suspect that he would not have favored this kind of law. Generally speaking, he was not a supporter of government imposed requirements or restrictions. There are exceptions, of course, and I certainly don’t wish to presume to speak for him. But I do suspect that this law would not have his support.

To borrow the words of the original poster to this thread, we should always have the freedom to be “morons…to stupid to have common sense”.

Again – the headlight thing is a great idea. I just don’t believe that every great idea should be turned in to a law. Neither did the real George Washington.

I do not like adding laws either. I heard the story on the news and was surprised they were passing a law that was actually for public safety. I believe your personal liberties are yours. When our state passed a seatbelt law I saw it as intrusive due to the fact that I have never heard of someone being injured by a body flying from a vehicle.

I agree you can have the freedom to be a moron. Driving in rain without lights treads upon my freedom to a safe road.
I believe your rights end where mine begin and vice-versa. I wish for every law passed one had to be removed.

Each law starts with a "fire starter", meaning that a specific group of words has special meaning to someone and they believe that society would benefit from their wisdom. Their wisdom most often comes from some event that occurred in life, usually traumatic, and they honestly believe a law will help.

Think of it in these terms: a women looses a family member in a drunk driving accident. She then bonds with others and forms MADD, Mother Against Drunk Driving, which is a national leader in DUI law. I doubt many would argue against their cause or would enjoy a collision with a drunk driver?

Even more simple, a teenager is ejected from a vehicle during a high speed rollover from a joyride after school...he wasn't wearing a seatbelt which experts say would have saved his life. That is one reason the seatbelt law exists. I can't count the number of times this has happened, if you haven't seen it...watch the news one evening.

And then comes the headlights...somewhere, someone was hit by a vehicle during the day when the weather conditions did not give full visibility. Common sense says that headlights would have helped.

The bottom line is this...you can not find fault or punish someone for an immoral, ignorant or moronic act. Everyone has the right to be stupid. However, we create laws and prescribe punishment for when stupidity creates problems for others in effect their stupidity violates my rights. We call these acts criminal violations. A law is society's way of compensating for an immoral, ignorant or moronic violation by assigning a tangible punishment. Laws only keep moral people moral, just like padlocks keep honest people honest. Laws will never keep criminals from breaking them but they do allow for society to take some action against those who defy the majority. And if you think about it, our country is based on the concept "majority rules".

I don't like being told what to do all of the time, whether it be in the form of a law or not. But realize that every decision has consequences that go beyond the simple explanation. Traffic laws and violations especially because more often than not your actions will affect others, directly or indirectly...i.e. insurance rates. The law is there to remind you that one, society already says this behavior is not acceptable, and two, if you ignore what society is telling you there will be consequences.

To - Are you serious,

Our country is not founded on “Majority Rules”. The term “Majority Rules” is nearly synonymous with the term “Mob Rules”. A Democracy is a Mob Rules type of government.

Our country was founded as a Republic. A Republic is a representative form of government, and is based on a set of founding laws – a constitution. In a Republic, the people appoint representatives to handle government business. And those representatives are supposed to be bound by a document – the Constitution – which permits and prohibits certain acts by the government.

The writings of Alexander Hamilton, Sam Adams, James Madison, and others who founded our government clearly state that our country was never intended to be a Democracy, or a Majority Rules form of government. The Federalist Paper Number 10 by Madison speaks very clearly on this point.

Take a look at the video found here: http://www.flixxy.com/political-systems.htm . This is a quick 10 minute video that does a great job explaining the forms of government. Most Americans are very confused on this issue, and the video does a great job explaining things.

You stated that,“A law is society's way of compensating for an immoral, ignorant or moronic violation by assigning a tangible punishment.” In truth, however, laws are established as a means for the government to apply restrictions or controls over the people. A law is simply a tool for control.

That does not mean that all laws are bad. In fact, as a Republic, we are a nation of laws. And in my opinion, this is the best form of government – as long as those laws remain within the boundaries established by the founding document – the Constitution.

Let me point out that in your response you are referring to people who do not use headlights in the rain as “criminals”. This is what we have come to. By forgetting to flip on your lights in the rain, you are now a “criminal”. Clearly we have gone too far.

The Greeks had a saying,“Without law there can be no freedom”. This is a true statement. However, that does not mean that more laws create more freedom. There is a balance that must be maintained. And today, we are tipping the scales too far to one side by criminalizing act after act after act.

Again, using headlights in the rain is a great idea. I honestly think everyone should do that. But making it a law is a bad idea. Declaring that a person is a “criminal” for failure to use his headlights in the rain is a bad idea.

Jefferson stated that "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” It seems today that the tree has been fenced in by the tyrants. And they will use its wood to club us if we fail to flip on our headlights.