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Anonymouse
Calie Stephens
John Willis
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01/25/06 Council Nuts need some head
cracking!
If you listened to the City Council's debate on
towing cars of uninsured drivers involved in car wrecks, you were a lot smarter
when you woke up Wednesday morning than you were after enduring the tortuous
discussion by some council members. Dallas council members
had a "I voted for it BEFORE I voted against it" moment. Or, rather some
had a "I'm against it, but I'm voting for it" moment.
Just a bunch of nonsense.
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01/25/06
There is a cure for "Fear of Towing
by Avi Adelman |
... Even
if Dallas decides to let uninsured motorists from any third-world country or
any part of Dallas drive without fear of towing, just where will these
people be driving???
Arlington, DeSoto, Haltom City,
Irving and Mesquite impound cars of uninsured drivers stopped by police,
regardless of whether or not they've been in an accident. Plano
and Rockwall County started towing at the beginning of the month. That
pretty much eliminates most places with a Wal-Mart nearby. We can only hope
Duncanville, Farmers Branch, and Richardson get on the stick soon.
But, the
DMN folks are not telling you that two other area police departments have
uninsured motorists towing policies: The Dallas County Sheriff and Dallas
County Constables.
The Sheriff handles enforcement on
the big highways around town: I-20,
I-30, most of I-635,
etc.
... So, hats off to our
City Council. Let them ignore state law and allow uninsured motorists to
drive on our streets. They can cause accidents that we will have to pay for
again and again and again without any fear of towing.
The Dallas City Council has no
authority over other police departments, Constables or the Sheriff's
deputies. These minority council representatives
can whine and moan that their uninsured constituents are towed until they
are voted out of office. No one cares what they say or think anyway.
There are nearly a dozen independent
police departments all around Dallas - and two within our city limits -
drooling for the extra business and revenue towing uninsured motorists from
Dallas will generate for their agencies.
The answer is already out there. |
Shakedown Leo Chaney went on about how much money sanitation workers make.
He implied because they are poor they should be exempt from carrying
insurance. Lord knows if they can't afford car insurance, they certainly
will not be able to make you whole if they hit your car. If they can't
afford car insurance, they probably are not maintaining their car either.
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Towing OK'd for uninsured vehicles in accidents;
Dallas: Despite concerns, council unanimously
backs impounding plan
Thursday,
January 26, 2006
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
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... The City Council on Wednesday approved an
ordinance mandating the impounding of uninsured vehicles involved in
accidents to which police respond.
... "I have heartburn about how this is going to
operate," Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia said, adding that the city's auto
pound needs more staff, greater capacity and better security to handle the
potential influx of vehicles.
Council member Leo Chaney doubted
whether the ordinance would prompt poor, uninsured motorists to purchase
policies.
And council member Mitchell Rasansky
argued that the ordinance didn't go far enough.
"We're waiting for an accident ?
smack! ? to happen," he said, slapping his hands together. "I'd
confiscate the car when they're stopped for a traffic violation."
Under the ordinance, police
are directed to ask drivers involved in accidents to provide proof of
insurance. Police would order uninsured drivers' cars towed ? at the
drivers' expense ? to the city's auto pound in West Dallas.
... Council member Pauline Medrano suggested that
insurance companies create a toll-free number so drivers can verify their
insurance coverage.
... Some council members said they'd like to
conduct an interim review after one year to check for racial, ethnic and
geographic profiling. |
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The biggest problem with this ordinance correlates to
what Councilman Rasansky says. Unless there is an injury, the police do
not go to fender benders. If you are hit by an uninsured deadbeat, they
are still likely to go free with their car. If their car is too damaged to
drive, they were going to abandon it anyway -- as Councilman James Fantroy
suggested. They will just go to another car auction (like all those
charities offer), buy another moveable wreck and get back out on the streets to
hit someone else, and so on and so on. |
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01/31/06 James
Northrup:
As passed, the City Ordinance to tow uninsured vehicles
virtually assures the City Pound will fill up with wrecked cars. Since the
only cars towed will be ones in traffic accidents, the uninsured
motorist will flee the scene if his car can move -
knowing it will be towed if he
stays. That will leave
only wrecked cars to be towed and impounded;
when not claimed, sold to junk yards for scrap.
This is no incentive for uninsured
motorists to get insurance. It's a negative
incentive for them to stay at an accident scene! It
will cost the City to provide a wrecking yard
service for abandoned cars, all
in the interest of mollycoddling scofflaws. |
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Several years ago, I had a little Mustang that was completely paid for - no car
payments. I got broadsided on Stemmons @ LBJ by an uninsured driver.
My Mustang was totaled. which meant it had no trade-in value. Because it
was not new (but really cute), it had little value to my insurance company. After I paid my
deductible and my medicals and had to buy a new car, my car insurance premiums
went up. Not only did I have to buy a new car, I couldn't afford another
Mustang and had to go down to a Tempo. I did nothing wrong that day.
I was in the middle lane on Stemmons heading to a family reunion. The driver not only
didn't have state mandated insurance, he had not properly maintained his car,
out of date inspection sticker.
His brakes failed as he exited LBJ, and he couldn't control the car when it got
down to Stemmons. The only thing that stopped him was my Mustang.
Because he was irresponsible, I was suddenly without a car and had no
alternative but to go into debt.
I suspect there are hundreds of single, working women out there with similar stories.
You don't have a right to drive on public streets if you don't meet the
regulations that come with the privilege society grants you to drive on public
streets. If you can't afford a car and the state requirement for car
insurance, then catch a bus.
If we stop enforcing valid laws, where are we as
a society?
If we don't require insurance or proof of financial responsibility, then the
streets are not safe for any of us.
We cannot live together without rules. We must enforce the rules.
It's called law enforcement!
Do we let poor people drive 50 miles per hour through a school district?
Do we waive their ticket because they only make minimum wage?
Do we just do away with laws and have anarchy because some people refuse to
obey society's rules? If that's the case, then maybe we should turn
over the streets to the lawless and all of us move into fortified
communities. With all the high rises in town and the gated
communities, I guess we aren't too far from that scenario.
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JC:
Can't wait until they start
taxing taxpayers to BUY insurance for people who
can't afford to buy insurance.
Don't think it can happen?
We have welfare,
Sec 8 housing, "The projects," WIC, food stamps.
Oh, don't forget low
interest loans banks give out with taxpayer subsidies via the government
so people can move into homes they can't afford.
This is the game the government
plays with the people.
The more involved they get,
the more favors are owed them via your vote and your tax dollars.
Short-term band-aid
populist solutions lead to major trouble when the chickens come home to
roost which they always do.
Laws don't/can't stop people from doing wrong. There
should be no law that states people must have
insurance. That is a bad law from the
get-go, but it plays well into the mentality of
the masses.
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The lame comments from
Shakedown Chaney, James Fantroy, Don Hill, Dr. Elba Garcia and Pauline Medrano
were just flat out embarrassing. If Brain-Dead T-Reese said anything about
towing uninsureds' cars, God was merciful and I missed her.
The most sensible comments during the discussion were by Councilman Rasansky.
He said we should tow a car whenever a driver is stopped for any moving
violation and cannot show proof of insurance. I absolutely agree.
Get the lawbreaker off the street before he does harm to someone or their car.
If
you have a bunch of teenagers driving your family car(s), put a copy of
the proof of insurance in each of their wallets -- right beside their drivers
license. If they don't have a drivers license or if they are not covered
by your family insurance policy, your kid should not be driving on public
streets -- not to the store,
not to school, nowhere.
There was an even more cerebrally-damaging discussion later relating to some
resolution CWA union workers wanted the council to pass that would direct how
Comcast and/or Times-Warner will handle their employees. I was
away from the radio when the conversation started, but it was clear CWA guys had
previously lobbied Pauline Medrano, Angela Hunt, and others to get them
to support a resolution relating to employee relations with Times-Warner, the
expected future owner of Comcast. Bill Blaydes, Mitch Rasansky, Ron Natinsky and Linda Koop made intelligent pleas to their colleagues to stay out
of this mess, but only Ed Oakley voted with them.
On a 7-5 vote, Angela
Hunt, Pauline Medrano, Elba Garcia, Leo Chaney, Don Hill, James Fantroy and
Thorton-Reese put Dallas taxpayers right in the crosshairs of Times-Warner's very capable
attorneys. This was a dangerous and inappropriate intrusion
into the business practices of Comcast or Times-Warner or both. Times-Warner
might have an argument that Pauline Medrano has a conflict of interest what with
her family's union ties.
It was a truly worrisome follow-up after the unanimous vote for towing cars of
uninsured drivers.
sb
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