Daily Dose of Common Sense

In a move that certainly does away with little trivialities like PROOF, the Ohio Supreme Court has given officers in that state the right to give speeding tickets based on their eyes–not a radar gun. In Ohio, if a police officer sees you speeding, he can write you a ticket even if you weren’t officially clocked as going over the speed limit.

This is troubling because the perception of how fast you’re going is subjective. It’s not like running a red light or making an illegal turn. What looks 45 miles an hour to one person could look 55 miles an hour to someone else. “Speeding, officer? Exactly how far over the speed limit was I?” In Ohio, they won’t need to answer this question before socking you with a hefty fine.

[Via The Consumerist]
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It sure is fun to laugh at some of the dumb things criminals do, especially if it results in his or her capture. That’s why we love this bit from Cracked: 6 Baffling Mistakes Criminals Apparently Make All the Time. The article is full of ineptness and stupidity. Included are such gems as “Fight the urge to give away personal information” and “Cover your tracks:”

The second thing you should do is take the weather into consideration. If it’s been snowing in the area, a smart criminal will employ snowshoes or a flock of trained eagles that will carry him above the ground to avoid leaving painfully obvious footsteps in the snow. Unlike Rashaun Preston, a not smart criminal who, in 2007, robbed his employers and left a deep, visible trail leading from the scene of the crime straight to his apartment–like some lovably inept cartoon badguy.

Most of these mistakes are just common sense. But, if you had a lot of common sense, you wouldn’t become a criminal in the first place. We hope lawbreakers don’t read the Internet so they’re just that easier to catch.

Crazy cat ladies, beware. If you live in Dudley, Massachusetts, you’ll need to get a special license to own more than three cats.

One woman there is responsible for the new law. She owns fifteen cats, and they’re tearing up the neighborhood. Literally. She’s being charged a $100-a-day fine, and is looking to move to more cat-friendly digs.

To be a responsible pet owner, you have to be able to properly care for animals, which isn’t cheap. Shots, medicine, flea prevention, food…the list goes on and on. This also means you have to clean up after the pets, bathe them, and keep them from being a public menace. That’s where a lot of crazy too-many-cat owners get into trouble.

I suppose it’s a judgement call to determine how many is “too many” cats. But, when you reach double digits, common sense dictates that you need to reexamine your priorities.

A first grader in Delaware was excited about recently joining the Cub Scouts. So excited that he brought his new Scout utensil to school. The problem was that the utensil contained a knife–along with a spoon and a fork–and this broke the zero-tolerance weapon policy in his elementary school. Now, this six-year old faces 45 days in a reform school.

Really? I’m not advocating children bringing weapons to school. But, this kid was clearly not bringing a weapon. At worst, it should have just been taken away for the day. But, a suspension and reform school seems way over the top. What genius lawmakers enact these “zero tolerance” policies thinking that there will never, ever be an exception?

For Delaware, Zachary’s case is especially frustrating because last year state lawmakers tried to make disciplinary rules more flexible by giving local boards authority to, “on a case-by-case basis, modify the terms of the expulsion.”

The law was introduced after a third-grade girl was expelled for a year because her grandmother had sent a birthday cake to school, along with a knife to cut it. The teacher called the principal–but not before using the knife to cut and serve the cake.

In Zachary’s case, the state’s new law did not help because it mentions only expulsion and does not explicitly address suspensions. A revised law is being drafted to include suspensions.

There’s a web site set up to help Zachary’s cause and show support.

Flying is increasingly a hassle. And, apparently it’s worse if you carry cash.

In March, a man was stopped by TSA agents in St. Louis because he was carrying $4,700 in cash. An employee of Ron Paul’s campaign, he was returning home from an event where he was responsible for the proceeds of campaign materials. TSA agents detained and questioned him for half an hour. When he repeatedly asked what scope of authority the agents had to hold and question him, he received no explanation. In fact, the situation escalated to the point where the agents placed him under arrest. Thinking fast, he recorded the whole incident on his iPhone.

The ACLU is now filing a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, which has authority over the TSA. The lawsuit maintains that the TSA is subjecting Americans to unreasonable searches and detentions.

TSA officials have the authority to conduct safety-related searches for weapons and explosives. According to the ACLU’s lawsuit, TSA agents are using heightened security measures after 9/11 as an excuse to exceed their search authority and engage in unlawful searches that violate the privacy rights of passengers. The lawsuit also charges that unconstitutional searches and detention by TSA agents have become the norm.

We can hope this lawsuit will result in some serious regulation overhaul within the TSA. Getting from point A to point B is hard enough without constantly having your constitutional rights trampled on. In the meantime, if you’re going to travel, use credit cards or remember to have a voice recorder program on your cell phone.

Of course, if you really want to remind the TSA about your rights, you can carry the Bill of Rights – Security Edition when you travel. These metal cards have the First Ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution printed on them, with the Fourth Amendment highlighted in red. (That’s your unreasonable search and seizure protection for those who don’t remember history class.) Power to the people!

Older Americans commonly grumble that the younger generation has lost its manners. Well, New York City is about to launch a campaign on the buses and subways that might help.

Seat hogs who are unwilling to give up their bus or train seat to an elderly or disabled person will now be slapped with a fine OR possibly recieve ten days in jail. Yes, jail time.

It seems extreme, and it’s sad that we have to remind people to do something so basic in good manners. But, apparently we do. In addition to older and disabled passengers not getting seats, many pregnant women also complain that no one offers them a seat during busy times. It’s a shame that compassion sometimes gets lost in the rush hour commute.

Mass transit is for the masses. But, individual courtesy is still important.

In a case that will surely go down as one of the lowest points in our legal history, a California woman sued the makers of Cap’n Crunch cereal. No, she didn’t find something horrible in her cereal box. Nor was she gypped out of a prize inside. Instead, this woman was outraged that “crunchberries” aren’t real fruit.

The plaintiff argued that consumers are being misled into thinking that crunchberries contain real fruit because “berry” appears in the word.

It’s hard to see how anyone could dream up a case of fraud here. Regardless of the fact that the ingredients are plainly listed, the picture on the front of the box shows you exactly what the cereal looks like. There’s no big mystery. Luckily, the judge agreed and dismissed the case.

What next? Will someone sue because the Cap’n isn’t a real Captain?

Yesterday, an incident between two Long Island drivers left one man dead. The deceased left his car to confront another driver, wouldn’t let the other driver pass and was run over. Also last week, a Baltimore police officer was arrested after throwing tobacco juice and pointing his gun at another driver while off-duty. Sadly, these are hardly isolated incidents.

According to the NHTSA, there are two problems: aggressive driving and road rage. Aggressive driving is a “traffic offense,” such as speeding and improper lane changing. Road rage is a “criminal offense,” by which an incident occurs on the roadway and an assault transpires. It is estimated that aggressive driving is responsible for one-third of all crashes.

Are you an aggressive driver? Take this quiz to find out. Here are 10 Tips to Prevent Road Rage. If you see someone driving irresponsibly, you can anonymously report them to this site.

Remember, you’re in a car but you’re not invincible. Let’s be careful out there.

Horns blaring and lights flashing, fire engines and ambulances struggle to navigate through traffic each day. Based on our observations, some drivers don’t know what to do when the lights and sirens approach. We’ve seen cars freeze and stay put. We’ve seen cars sloooooowly pull over to the side of the road. And, we’ve even seen some cars speed up to out race the emergency vehicle.

What should you do? Pull over immediately and STOP. According to vehicle and traffic laws (we used New York, but every state is the same), “Upon the immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle… the driver of every other vehicle shall yield the right of way and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and as close as possible to the right-hand edge or curb… and shall stop and remain in such position until the authorized emergency vehicle has passed….” In other words, get out of the way!

Also, you may not be aware that almost all states now have a Move Over law. If an emergency or law-enforcement vehicle, or tow truck is sitting on the side of the road with its flashing lights on, drivers must move over one lane. If it’s not safe to move over, then drivers must significantly slow down. This is an effort to protect the people on the side of the road from harm.