No, the guarantee of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness does NOT speak directly to the privilege of driving a motor vehicle. That is privilege, as in One may do it IF
The system of government we have chosen to live under is loosely based on the Pareto Condition: A thing is good as long as it benefits someone without harming another.
We have restrictions on drunk drivers because the drugging of oneself followed by driving a big, powerful vehicle is known to result in damage to property and injury of innocent people. This is not good for a non-drugged owner of property nor for a non-drugged injury victim.
While high speed may be exhilarating to the speeder, it is not good to those who have to get out of the way, are scared out of their wits, and, in the extreme, are killed by the speeder who loses control of the speeding vehicle. We have laws, therefore, relegating speed to that which is manageable given the conditions of a road (40 miles an hour on a narrow two lane road), the area abutting the road (20 miles an hour in a school zone), etc..
Operation of a vehicle is further restricted to those believed to be able to safely operate said vehicle. Drivers must be able to see, react, and know how to react, and understand what to do when faced with an emergency. Shouldn t they also be responsible for their actions?
How can a mother of small children working to provide a living for those children, working even harder to obtain an education so she can be a better provider; deny economic protection to another mother in the same circumstances? It only takes one uninsured motorist with no assets beyond that necessary to sustain life, to destroy that same mother s dream. If the young mother is struck by an uninsured, financially irresponsible motorist, causing major damage to the mother s vehicle; she is unable to fix it herself and looses her ability to commute to her job and continue her education.
Purchasing a vehicle costs money. Gas and oil cost money. Liability insurance costs money. YES, they all cost money and anyone with a vehicle must accept these costs. Otherwise, someone else is subsidizing the owner. Why should the young mother whose life has been destroyed subsidize the driver s carelessness?
Mass transit is an answer only when there is no easier alternative. When one can buy a junker, pay for gas and oil, and have a vehicle to use at an instant; why schedule one s life. When one must meet one s responsibilities, including financial liability for one s actions; one begins to consider the alternative. Amortizing the initial cost of a vehicle runs from $1 to $33 per day. Add gas, oil and insurance, and the cost jumps some $5.
Parking is a very important cost also. So far our community has its head in the sand with regard to parking. Yes, we have a municipal parking lot. But generally speaking we park all over the landscape and into the roadway. We build apartment houses for 30 people and provide two parking spaces reserved for the complex owner. We have entire apartment complexes with NO parking. Once we address Compulsory Insurance AND Parking, we WILL have mass transit.
