Belly Button Lint: Rick Ramsey's Weblog

Radar guns were a vast improvement over the previous method of training troopers to eyeball speeders, tail them, and catch them. More reliable. Numbers are harder to argue about at court than a trooper's judgment, after all. They were cheaper, too, since one trooper with a gun and several of his buddies in chase cars could catch a month's quota of speeders in an afternoon.

Laser guns were a quantum leap forward, as well, since they identify a menace to public safety in about an instant. A couple of years ago the guy tailgating me and I got nailed doing 80 on the New York State Throughway as we crested a hill near Utika. The trooper's lights were on about a picosecond after he saw us. I was so impressed I began to wonder if they were wired into his laser gun.

Because I'm keenly aware of the dangers of litter, stray deer, broken down cars, and other potential dangers to my safety and that of the drivers around me, I always slow down before the crest of a hill, but in this particular case I was trying to pass the traffic on my right with all due caution while taking into account the emotional needs of the guy tailgating me.

The trooper was downright jolly, and tried to make a good impression on my nervous children who'd never seen Dad pulled over before. I thought that was mighty good of him. When you're paid on commission, you don't have to go the extra mile, but he did. I was grateful he stopped me, and as I thanked him for his trouble, I told him my family found the entire experience salutatory.

I was also impressed by the initiative displayed by the insurance companies who donate the laser guns to the police departments so they don't have to burden the public coffers to protect and to serve that public. That sort of generosity is uncommon in today's cynical world.

And here's where I get to my point. You see, what's even more amazing is that this generosity of spirit has teamed up with good old-fashioned American ingenuity into a remarkable partnership. As towns and cities struggle to meet the health care costs of their retirees, they have to find new and less costly ways to ensure the safety of their citizens. The manufacturers of traffic cameras have stepped up to the plate. For a small percentage of the profits, they install cameras free of charge. Or at a reduced rate. In and of itself, that's remarkable. But they did not stop there. No, they actually spent extra time and effort to figure out how to improve the efficiency of the amber lights at intersections. Before traffic cameras were installed, the amber lights took too long to change to red, letting pass too many opportunities to ensure public safety while increasing municipal revenues. Now less time is wasted on the Amber lights. The result? A higher rate of revenue for the town, the traffic camera manufacturers, and the insurance companies. Talk about good old-fashioned American ingenuity!

There are days when I honestly wonder whether the life of the American Dream has been slowly choked out by creeping tyranny, but when I witness this sort of initiative, teamwork, and cleverness employed simply to protect me, an ordinary citizen, my hope is renewed.