Sunday, May 5, 2013

A New Voter Initiative for the State of Washington

I've been thinking of creating a voter initiative for the State of Washington.
I've thought this through and I think this will create employment, remove traffic deadlock and conserve gasoline. The macroeconomic cost savings will be enormous.
My father once quipped off-the-cuff (and claims to not remember it), "Brakes are for people with poor planning skills" when I asked him for some money to repair the front brakes in my 1986 Mercury Lynx (white, all vinyl interior, 5-spd, cassette deck AND air conditioning - stop ladies, I'm taken). Although his response was sardonic and showed what little regard he had for my life at that time he did have a really good point. It's an excellent point. It is a point I've been thinking about for the last 25 years.
The bugs clearly need to be worked out as I am not a lawyer, but the idea is this. If you apply your brakes on an Interstate Highway a government sniper will shoot you in the head. It's very simple. Touch your brakes, you forfeit your life and your car. I do assume that there will be savage congestion in the short term as the populace gets used to the idea and acclimates to the new rules of the road but there is no risk of repeat offenders. Congestion will be reduced significantly over the medium term as the citizenry complies and those that were unable to adapt are no longer on the road.
Unnecessary braking is extremely wasteful. Do you know why your car's city mileage rating is lower than its highway mileage rating? It's the gas that is used getting back up to speed. If you don't slow down there is no need to get back up to speed. Let's also not forget about all the asbestos we've been spinning into the air over-applying our brakes over the decades.
I think the cars recovered by this law, if in a good and safe condition, could be given to job seekers. I'm sure there are other uses as well. We'll sort it out. That's what committees are for.

If successful I will roll out my next idea.. the death penalty for left lane obstructors.