The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

6 February 2006

Slower going in the Big Apple

I have admittedly not driven much in the City of New York — no more than a couple of hours at most — but when I did, I did not exceed the posted speed limits, when I could find said limits posted, though this is due more to crushing volumes of traffic than to my own dubious virtue.

That said, though, this perturbed me greatly:

On his weekly WABC-AM radio show yesterday, [Mayor Michael] Bloomberg voiced support for placing devices atop taxis and private vehicles that would light up when motorists exceed the speed limit, making speeders easy prey for cops. He mentioned seeing such alarms in Singapore.

"We all want the laws enforced. And when we have technology [that] can let us enforce the law and save us money in doing so, what's the argument against that?" Bloomberg mused.

"If I have a police officer watching to see if you're going down the street speeding, or the car reports automatically when you speed, you know, is either of those things fundamentally different in its infringement on your liberties?"

Well, the NYPD does other things besides watch for speeders; their presence on city streets can be justified quite easily. And while it could be argued that installing one of these contraptions could be added to the list of conditions for possessing a NYC taxi medallion without difficulty, I'm thinking that mandating them for everyone will run into some Fifth Amendment issues.

Besides, does Bloomberg really want to be taking his lead on civil liberties from Singapore? Migod, he'll be having smokers caned.

(Via Gawker.)

Posted at 1:00 PM to Driver's Seat


Bloomberg is a statist fool.

He should be expelled from the Republican party.

Posted by: Dan at 3:39 PM on 6 February 2006

When does the traffic even permit speeding? Bloomberg is a dummy.

Posted by: John Salmon at 4:57 PM on 6 February 2006

I'm sure it's theoretically possible, though the times I was there, I saw no likelihood of so doing.

Posted by: CGHill at 5:21 PM on 6 February 2006

This is an outrage. If NYC cabbies can't drive like maniacs the terrorists will have won.

Posted by: Rachel at 7:16 PM on 6 February 2006

Smokers ARE caned here, but I'm sure you know that.

If they would only listened to me in the last elections...

Posted by: Tatyana at 7:25 PM on 7 February 2006