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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) Today, I’m going to share with you two little white lies about your car.
First, yesterday was the final day of this year’s click-it-or-ticket enforcement.
Now, of course, you should wear your seatbelt. But I am also opposed to belligerent policing. Once a year the federal government gives our local cops your tax dollars to cover the overtime of police pestering local drivers and issuing $10 citations for those who aren’t buckled up.
Wisconsin’s legislature passed the seatbelt law after being stong-armed by the federal government. States that didn’t require seatbelts would lose out on highway construction money. Knowing that the seatbelt law was unpopular, the legislature allowed for secondary enforcement only. Not wearing your seatbelt could not be the primary reason for a traffic stop. If you were caught speeding, not wearing a seatbelt could be an added citation only.
So here is white lie number one: Wisconsin’s seatbelt law was changed to primary enforcement by executive order. Again the feds told us that we wouldn’t qualify for highway grants if we didn’t. So… if you were ticketed during the click-it-or-ticket crackdown, that’s not the law that the legislature intended.
Second, my vehicle registration notice came in the mail last week. $100 to register my car, and an extra $25 wheel tax for road maintenance in Marathon County.
The wheel tax is local government at its worst. First, it was passed by the county board as a one year temporary tax. That’s what the public was told. But, even local governments get drunk on tax dollars. It’s now permanent. This is a double-deception for Wausau residents. None of the wheel tax money that’s collected from city residents goes to road maintenance within city limits. You’re paying to maintain roads in Edgar or the Town of Texas, or Nutterville – which is nuts.
The lesson is simple. Be skeptical when you’re told little things to make a new law more palatable. Those things are always subject to change.
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