Legal Absurdity - John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

I grew up in the borough of Queens in New York City. My father had grown up in Brooklyn while my mother had grown up in the Midwest. Neither of them ever drove and of course, they never owned a motor vehicle. If we needed to go anywhere under the resources of just the immediate family, it was by way of the IND subway (Back then there were the IND, the IRT and the BMT subway lines.), by way of a bus or on occasion, by taxicab.

My first job after college was in a small (to my perception) town of forty-five thousand people in another state where, having never learned to drive, I had to walk everywhere. Of course, I found a driving school where I signed up for driving lessons. That was in June.

It was an arduous experience for me. However, by November, the driving school's owner said I was ready to take the driving test over at the local armory and of course, I would be using one of the driving school's cars.

Guess again!!!

It just so happened that over at the state capitol, legislation had just then been passed which made it illegal to take a driving test in any car which was equipped with dual brake pedals OR which had ever BEEN equipped with dual brake pedals. Any car with dual brake pedals already installed could not be made legal by removing those pedals. That car was made permanently illegal for the purpose. That meant that none of the driving school's cars could legally be used for taking driving tests in that state.

The driving school owner traveled to the state capitol where he collared the town's elected representative and presented yours  truly as a test case. I had no access to any car other than that which the school could provide. My nearest family were hundreds of miles away and they didn't own any cars.

In short, that ridiculous law made it illegal for me to take a driving test in that state.

The law was shortly afterward rescinded and I took the test in November. I passed.

However, my take-away from all of that was a stark lesson in its own right. To me, this law had been enacted at the behest of some influential individual as an act of spite against some personal rival or enemy. Common sense, simple decency, basic right-and-wrong had all been tossed to the wind with malicious intent and with willing political capitulation.

To me, this was a lesson in how laws sometimes work AND sometimes why.

Comments

[Frank Rodriguez]

I take it that you are surprised by the occasionally astounding displays of irrationality that mankind is capable of.
Don't be surprised. Emotional motivations cause people to do things that utterly make no sense, things that they often later regret and feel silly about because of the irrational basis for taking those decisions.