Drivers Licenses

Isn't it time for us to reevaluate the entire concept of licensing drivers, particularly considering what the state has done with its newly gained power to license travel?

What has been gained by it? How much does it cost? How much does it adversely affect the economy? How much does it cost to run the courts, and how many manhours do businesses lose to court appearances, fines, etc.? How many people have been killed in high speed chases which were caused by people who were frustrated about a simple thing like a speeding ticket or even a parking fine?

In other words, what is the cost/benefit?

First, the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution says:

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AMENDMENT IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall
not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the
place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
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Has any cop who ever stopped you for speeding [an "unreasonable ... seizure"] ever shown you the "oath or affirmation ... particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized"? Of course not. Not even once.

Has this flagrant violation of the Bill of Rights benefitted anybody besides government workers?

The very best that can be assumed is that a failure by the state to license drivers would permit more incompetent drivers to drive, and that this would increase the fatality rate. Considering the track record of failures in almost every problem the government has ever decided to "solve", it's very probable that licensing drivers actually increases the fatality rate. But, just for argument's sake, let's assume that failing to license drivers would increase the fatality rate 10%, leading to an additional 4,500 motor vehicle fatalities annually.

How much does it cost to violate the Bill of Rights (besides the adverse moral lesson)? 70% of a policeman's duties today are traffic enforcement, which by itself is 560,000 manyears. The extra judges, lawyers, jailers, prison guards, court workers, clerks, etc., required to support them triples that figure, to 1,680,000 manyears. These 1,680,000 manyears rob workers from the productive side of the economy, so the real loss to our economy is 3,360,000 manyears, which is 2.7% of the civilian labor force. 2.7% of our $8 trillion GDP is $216 billion per year, which is $48 million per life saved.

This of course ignores the people killed in high speed chases, time lost from work, fines, and long lines at the DMV. It also ignores the fact that, because cops chase speeders rather than murderers, we now have a quarter of a million murderers running around free just in the last 3 decades who were never even captured or tried. But even this by itself proves that licensing drivers is an absurd program. "Liberals" were oh so confused when traffic fatalities decreased the instant the speed limit increased from 55 to 65 MPH. They will be equally as confused when the Bill of Rights is upheld, licensing of drivers is outlawed, and the traffic fatality rate decreases even further.

We spend only $4 billion annnually for cancer research, yet 540,000 Americans die each year from cancer. Cancer research thus is only $7,407 per cancer death, which is 1/6480th as much as we spend for each life [allegedly] saved by licensing drivers. If we spent 2.7% of GDP to cure cancer, the problem might be solved instantly, saving 540,000 lives per year--and the police could instead dedicate themselves to catching a quarter of a million murderers.

On top of that, if fathers had drivers licenses, they might be able to go to work. And if they went to work--maybe they would have more money for other things--like "child support", maybe?

Copyright @ 2010 by Fathers' Manifesto & Christian Party