Addressing California’s Budget Crisis with Integrity

In the 500,000+ miles I’ve logged driving through California since I moved here, I got my first speeding ticket in more than 20 years the other day. I was driving through our central coast, making my way up a long, flat, dead-straight road whose engineers, I’m sure, had deemed safe for anyone at speeds under about 180. I was 11 MPH over the speed limit. The officer politely smiled at my suggestion that a warning might be in order.

I wonder if it’s a coincidence that the citation came at a time of intense budget crisis when my fine of a few hundred bucks is clearly much in need. Half a million miles driving in this state has bought me a great deal of familiarity with our speed laws and the way they are (or were) enforced — and trust me, a couple of years ago, I couldn’t have gotten a ticket doing 76 in a 65 zone in the middle of nowhere if I were brandishing an ak-47 out of my driver’s window.

So the state’s idea is: We ran out of money so we’re randomly punishing our citizens? That’s some sad stuff.

But, I suppose, if that’s the worst form of injustice we countenance, let us count ourselves lucky in a world in which it’s the norm.