Yes there actually ought to be a law!

The lonely libertarian is well known for his “There Ought to be Law!!??” rants. Most of the time the laws that people want involve infringing on someone’s individual freedom. My personal favorite was the recent newsworthy mention in Connecticut of an attempt to ban the use of cell phones in grocery stores and movie theatres. Not that it’s not a reasonable policy, but let the grocery stores and the movie theatres set their own policies, based upon the desires of their customers. Let’s not have it forced upon us by some politician and a very vocal minority (or a very vocal majority for that matter- this means you Mr. Cigarette Smoking Ban.)

But once in a blue moon, there comes along a proposal for a law that actually is quite reasonable and needed.

Last week, as I was driving home from my LPR and my tax exam (yes, the same day) I was stuck behind this truck. This truck had these shifting sorts of picture advertisements on the back. Not just one or two, but multiple ads. There were big colorful pictures, and it was enchanting the way they switched from one to another. I was utterly captivated. Up until the point I went right through a light that had just turned red.

So yes, there actually is a case where the lonely libertarian thinks there ought to be a law. There should be laws to keep roads safe, and to prevent vehicles from going on public roads and completely distracting people. Of course there is a very big difference between a law that banned these sorts of visual advertisements (or any other form of distracting changing pictures on the road) and the ultra-stupid cell phone bans that have taken the nation by storm. Cell phone bans are not needed because we already have laws against reckless driving. We can, of course, control our own cell phone use, while we have no control over the pictures displayed on the other vehicles on the road.