RedFlameOut’s Musings

When my daughter was in an accident a few weeks ago, I began researching accident rates and causes — not in depth but enough to satisfy my curiosity. As you age, accident rates go up significantly. Eye sight is not was good and reflexes are off.

The gentleman that rear ended my daughter’s Honda Civic is almost 80 years old. He made a mistake and it might have been the frailties of age that contributed to the accident.

Now, I don’t specifically blame him. Accidents happen. Luckily this accident was at ~35 miles per hour and not on the freeway.

This brings me to my point. As a libertarian, regulation and law are abhorrent in general terms. Government is a necessary evil that has to be reigned in, maintained at a proper size (and our current governments at both the national, state, and local levels are far too large). However, public safety is extremely important. I believe anyone should be able to operate a non-commercial vehicle on their own property with no restrictions from the state.

In a libertarian society, the person whom caused the accident would pay recompense to the one receiving the damage either through direct payment or insurance. This is as it should be. Getting a license would be a privilege and an honor. Licensing and certification would be used to insure that one is ready to drive without harming anyone else’s property (which includes one’s life).

The governmental system in use today is far too restrictive and in some ways abusive as are most large government organizations. Licensing is a public safety issue and so regulation is required.

The current system does not go far enough in the area of testing and certification however. Personally, we should be requiring a new test — both driving and written — on particular schedules based on the likelihood of accidents based on statistics. In California, for example, renewal of your driver license is done through the mail or online. It seems the government is more interested in the fees than safety in this instance.

Driving on public property is a privilege and not a right due to public safety concerns. How to go about changing the system is a complex subject. I am just not sure of how the system should be constructed and administered except it shouldn’t be via a government agency.