The American Spectator

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In his piece inveighing against satellite-controlled speed experiments in the Great Frozen Northland, Eric Peters included this after-thought: “And don’t think that it would stop at the border, either. Those always-on Daytime Running Lamps most new cars come equipped with used to be a Canada-only deal, too.”

As a safety engineer who regularly exceeds posted speed limits by ten to fifteen miles-per-hour, I can appreciate Mr. Peters’s consternation. He should be aware, however, that those always-on DRLs have a hidden benefit for those hoping to avoid speeding tickets: besides all of the visible light they their halogen lamps put out, they generate a *lot* of energy in the 635-angstrom (or thereabouts) portion of the infrared spectrum. He should notice, also, that the designers usually seem to position the DRLs on either side of the space intended for the (usually) reflective license plate. Would he care to guess where traffic cops aim their laser speed guns?

Put another way, he might imagine calling “hello” across a canyon and listening for the much-fainter faint “hello” return echo of his own voice. Then he should imagine having the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, in full Messianic throat, on the opposite rim. Would he be able to detect the return “hello” echo in the second scenario?

p>The laser guns have the same problem with the DRLs. By the time one is close enough for Smokey to get a reliable return, even the most myopic of motorists is likely to have twigged — and get on the binders. br> — David Gonzalez br> Wheeling, Illinois /p>

Not a threat until the baby-boomers get a bit older.

The safety-Nazi control freaks will have to satisfy themselves with homeowner associations until there are enough slow-motion geezers to make such a device anything other than political suicide. Drivers vote.

That voters drive is exactly why there are so many bad ones. Why, do you think, is it impossible to restrict licensing to those drivers who comprehend things like turn-signals, keeping right, merging with traffic at the speed it’s going, and (my personal point of greatest irritation) not stopping where there are no signals or stop signs to “let others through” (during which maneuver, the typical twit blocks all 48 vehicles behind him… most of which are carrying people trying to get to work.) You can’t ban stupid people from driving because you can’t ban them from voting.

p>Speeders vote, too. Some speeders are smart, some aren’t, and I think the practice crosses party lines. Additionally, as anyone who has ever