Laws are for safety, not our convenience

How often are you driving, having one of those days when it seems every other driver is using the loose interpretation of the rules of the road? People rolling through stop signs while talking on cell phones. People who completely throw the rules out the window once they get into parking lots. You don't even have to be in your car.

I was walking my dog on a short leash on a trail at the forest preserve and a bike rider came flying around a blind corner (there are speed limits on the trails). I was on my side of the path. He lost control when he tried to get back on his side of the path. He cursed at me! It was my fault? My fault he was not obeying the speed limit and my fault he was on the wrong side of the path?

We have become a bunch of people who obey the law when it's convenient for us. And the police are stuck in a bad place. If they were going to go to the letter of the law they would be stopping every other car.

Villages could fill budget gaps writing traffic violations. We complain about the red-light cameras, but guess who made them possible - we did. If the police enforced the law as intended we would be crying "police state." So many of the laws are being enforced with a nod and a wink. If you get a ticket nowadays you probably deserved it.

Al Hellebuyck

Streamwood