I'll do what I want

I was listening to the radio on the way home the other day. The DJ was speaking about traffic fines, particularly speeding fines, and camera speed law enforcement. This one guy calls in and says that he doesn't get fines because he doesn't have his licence plate attached to his car.

Now he seemed very proud of this achievement and with good cause too. It is the sort of thing you like to leave as a legacy. When his grieving family surround the grave, holding a box containing the few bits they could find after a high speed accident, the legend emblazoned on the tombstone will read: "Here lies a man who never paid a fine. His licence plates kept falling off."

He isn't even bucking the trend. As I ride around town in my golf, I see numerous cars that spend so much on the vehicle, and yet have such shoddy glue. Beemers, Mercs, 4x4's and other monstrously expensive rides abound, with not a licence plate among them. Not ALL of these luxury vehicles are in that category. There are plentiful numbers of luxury car drivers who do indeed obey the law.

And don't get me wrong. I don't agree with speed law enforcement in this country. The South African metro police seem to have misunderstood the purpose of speed laws. They are not there to make money. Surprisingly, speed limits are there to try and limit the number of accidents. But it is the principle of obeying the law that I'm concerned with here.

This idiot, with his licence late lying shamefully out of sight, I am positive complains until blue in the face about the lawlessness in the land. Yet he is blatantly, and proudly, breaking those self same laws. This is not some game where you can pick and choose which part applies to you, and which doesn't. The law which states you must not kill each other is on the same document as the one which states you must drive a fully licenced vehicle and display the licence prominently on both front and back of the vehicle at all times. The crimes are not in the same league, but they are both crimes.

I'm not saying that I don't speed. I've done it before. I've been caught. I've paid my fine.

If you break the law, acknowledge it, and make reparations, you are miles ahead of those who break the law and avoid prosecution. Armed robbery was simply the next step in a long line of minor bits of stealing.