Ragin' on the road
Since The Age didn't publish my letter, my 3 readers ought to see it anyway:
Reynah Tang of the Law Institute of Victoria says that road rage offences shouldn't necessarily lead to loss of licence ("Offenders risk losing their licence", The Age, Mar 21) . He misses the point -- a vehicle is a weapon. Road ragers demonstrably do not have enough self control to drive. They have already lost their temper when in control of such a weapon, so they must never be given a licence to use that weapon again (the weapon should also be forfeited). The same is presumably true of gun murderers after their initial jail time (which road ragers rarely are given). RACV's Brian Negus also doesn't appear to realise that a driving license is a privilege, not an automatic right. You can still have all your necessary mobility without your car - it's not a human rights issue.
It was less than 200 words even dammit! But because the editor didn't check the basic arithmetic in a previous day's letter, they had to publish someone's correction.
Reynah Tang of the Law Institute of Victoria says that road rage offences shouldn't necessarily lead to loss of licence ("Offenders risk losing their licence", The Age, Mar 21) . He misses the point -- a vehicle is a weapon. Road ragers demonstrably do not have enough self control to drive. They have already lost their temper when in control of such a weapon, so they must never be given a licence to use that weapon again (the weapon should also be forfeited). The same is presumably true of gun murderers after their initial jail time (which road ragers rarely are given). RACV's Brian Negus also doesn't appear to realise that a driving license is a privilege, not an automatic right. You can still have all your necessary mobility without your car - it's not a human rights issue.
It was less than 200 words even dammit! But because the editor didn't check the basic arithmetic in a previous day's letter, they had to publish someone's correction.