Wilsons Sandbox

> I ride my bicycle to work every day as I choose not to own a car; and I'm > NOT an environmentalist. I live in the city of Philadelphia and like most > Northeastern cities in the US, you're crazy to own a car or even drive one > in these cities. I'm sure dat Brooklyn bum would agree. Just try riding

your

> bicycle in the city streets. You won't last a week. If you're not killed, > you'll be seriously injured. I ride side streets or side walks. The police > will look the other way because they know you'll be killed if you ride in > the streets. Most drivers in Philly are uninsured. Yes, more than 50% of > drivers don't have insurance and everyone knows it even the police. Its so > far out of control that Philly cops don't ask for your insurance when they > pull you over because they know that you probably don't and they don't

want

> to impound the car and all the paper work associated with it. >

You're joking right? When the mandatory insurance law went into effect in my state over ten years ago, the cops were pulling over people right and left just to see if they had proof of insurance. If not, SMACK! $500 ticket then and there. It doesn't even matter if you actually have insurance, if you can't produce proof they write that ticket, no questions asked or arguments accepted. Even the judge wasn't very lenient when I proved in court that I had insurance at the time of the ticket, and made me pay $50 of that $500 ticket. Hey, this is mo' money for the state, and it has done some good overall, so I'm not bitter about it. It pisses me off when I hear about agents of the law not enforcing the laws because they don't want to do some work, or worse yet, might get reprimanded by their superiors, as some local FDA inspectors here have stated in regards to the local Iowa Beef Packers plant where a worker sent the media a video of cattle that was going through the processing line while still alive. Hey, in Seattle I rode the 'walks too, just not all the time, and definitely not in downtown proper where a couple of thousand people are using them, and the cars can't get above 15 mph anyway due to the traffic. But check it out, I have been stopped by a cop for speeding on my bicycle before, and I have been given a ticket for J-walking before. (I was crossing at a sidewalk on an intersection, but against the light.) Go figure. Jeff

No joke. J-walking? Are you kidding? Actually I know very well that J walking is a no no on the west coast. J walking is common over here in Philly, but we don't call it J walking. Everyone just crosses when and where they please. There is a lot of corruption in this part of the country. It's engrained from over 200 years of settlement; this was the first settled part of the country. Bribing judges, paying off city hall officials is a all part of the game over here. Its a fact of life. In fact, many legal scholars will tell you that Philly is the most corrupt judiciary in the country. Anyway, this fosters high crime rates in the form of very sophisticated car theft rings which translates into outrageous car insurance premiums that nobody in their right mind would pay, so some do and most don't. Personally I always play by the rules of U.S. law and I feel like a sucker. Its very interesting how differently U.S. law is enforced and interpreted in different parts of our country. -Brian Shepard Philadelphia PA A13 -----Original Message----- From: Jeff Walker [mailto:jlwalk@...] Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2000 5:54 PM To: Shepard,Brian; klr650@...; DSN_klr650@egroups.com; tryce@... Subject: Re: [DSN_klr650] hand signals NKLR

> I ride my bicycle to work every day as I choose not to own a car; and I'm > NOT an environmentalist. I live in the city of Philadelphia and like most > Northeastern cities in the US, you're crazy to own a car or even drive one > in these cities. I'm sure dat Brooklyn bum would agree. Just try riding

your

> bicycle in the city streets. You won't last a week. If you're not killed, > you'll be seriously injured. I ride side streets or side walks. The police > will look the other way because they know you'll be killed if you ride in > the streets. Most drivers in Philly are uninsured. Yes, more than 50% of > drivers don't have insurance and everyone knows it even the police. Its so > far out of control that Philly cops don't ask for your insurance when they > pull you over because they know that you probably don't and they don't

want

> to impound the car and all the paper work associated with it. >

You're joking right? When the mandatory insurance law went into effect in my state over ten years ago, the cops were pulling over people right and left just to see if they had proof of insurance. If not, SMACK! $500 ticket then and there. It doesn't even matter if you actually have insurance, if you can't produce proof they write that ticket, no questions asked or arguments accepted. Even the judge wasn't very lenient when I proved in court that I had insurance at the time of the ticket, and made me pay $50 of that $500 ticket. Hey, this is mo' money for the state, and it has done some good overall, so I'm not bitter about it. It pisses me off when I hear about agents of the law not enforcing the laws because they don't want to do some work, or worse yet, might get reprimanded by their superiors, as some local FDA inspectors here have stated in regards to the local Iowa Beef Packers plant where a worker sent the media a video of cattle that was going through the processing line while still alive. Hey, in Seattle I rode the 'walks too, just not all the time, and definitely not in downtown proper where a couple of thousand people are using them, and the cars can't get above 15 mph anyway due to the traffic. But check it out, I have been stopped by a cop for speeding on my bicycle before, and I have been given a ticket for J-walking before. (I was crossing at a sidewalk on an intersection, but against the light.) Go figure. Jeff

Hi, I have been using Jeans with armor and keblar, they are expensive for a jean but they are great for hot weather. Made by www.giali.com. Luis Castro A5 in the Caribbean. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/