Stupid Motorist Law

Ambrosia

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The driver of a tourist bus may be charged under Arizona's "Stupid Motorist Law" for driving his tour bus full of passengers into a flooded roadway, where it was swept away down a wash for 300 yards before rolling over onto its side. All the passengers managed to climb out the windows and get to safety before the emergency crews got to the scene. Luckily there was no loss of life.

Arizona Officials Weigh 'Stupid Motorist Law'

"The incident is under investigation and if any charges are considered, it may very well be the 'Stupid Motorist Law,'" Mojave County Sheriff spokeswoman Trish Carter told ABCNews.com.

Under the law, anyone who drives onto a public street or highway "that is temporarily covered by a rise in water level is liable for the expenses of any emergency response that is required to remove from the public street or highway the driver or any passenger in the vehicle that becomes inoperable."
I love it. I think every state should have a "stupid motorist law". :D
 

Fiender

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Haha wow, who would have thought Arizona had a law that I agree with.
 

MaryMumsy

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Except that the law requires the offending driver to have gone around barricades to enter the flooded area.

There were no barricades in place. And numerous other vehicles, including ordinary sedans, had gone through in both directions immediately before the bus.

I think the Mohave County sheriff is blowing smoke.

MM
 

cornflake

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Evading clear barricades I'd be down with.

Driving down any street or highway "that is temporarily covered by a rise in water level?" How the hell is anyone supposed to avoid that, ever, except by never driving in the rain?

The reason the news is constantly harping, during rainstorms, about being very cautious about driving into puddles is because it's oftentimes not really possible to tell how deep they are by looking.

In some places, where there's regular rain, roads flood fairly easily and a huge percentage have a visible water level, but the flood is on a scale - there's a few inches to a level you can drive through it and then kind of can't. It's not like places that flash flood (I know anyplace can, I mean as a more common consequence of storms). Places that get rain get covered by water.
 

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People convicted of stupid driving offenses should be obligated, by law, to have easily-recognizable Idiot license plates in some garish color scheme different from any of their state's normal ones.

caw
 

Don

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People convicted of stupid driving offenses should be obligated, by law, to have easily-recognizable Idiot license plates in some garish color scheme different from any of their state's normal ones.

caw
Maybe we need to go back to a big scarlet A on sex offender's clothing, too. :sarcasm
 

CAWriter

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In some places, where there's regular rain, roads flood fairly easily and a huge percentage have a visible water level, but the flood is on a scale - there's a few inches to a level you can drive through it and then kind of can't. It's not like places that flash flood (I know anyplace can, I mean as a more common consequence of storms). Places that get rain get covered by water.

I went to visit a friend out of town and saw paint marks across the roads into town. They were essentially warning lines for water on the roadway--if you could see the paint, the water was at a navigable level. If you couldn't see the lines, it was dangerous (and I think there could have been traffic fines involved for attempting to cross anyway). The good thing was it prevented road crews or law enforcement from having to put barricades at those low spots during every storm. Might not be a bad idea for roads that tend to be impassable on a regular basis.
 

cornflake

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I went to visit a friend out of town and saw paint marks across the roads into town. They were essentially warning lines for water on the roadway--if you could see the paint, the water was at a navigable level. If you couldn't see the lines, it was dangerous (and I think there could have been traffic fines involved for attempting to cross anyway). The good thing was it prevented road crews or law enforcement from having to put barricades at those low spots during every storm. Might not be a bad idea for roads that tend to be impassable on a regular basis.

That's brilliant. They don't do that here and there are a number of roads that flood constantly. Like in the 'if it's been raining decently more than an hour you probably already know that way is iffy at best' level of the road always floods. That it does that, though, does get it closed, so people figure if it's not, it's still navigable, but there's that bit between passable and the cops closed it that's obviously bad.

Last time there was a heavy storm the news losers (the ones who drew the short straw) were out on one of the flood-prone roads in hip waders all 'now, we all know it normally floods but LOOKIT, it's like, really deep!'
 

blacbird

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Maybe we need to go back to a big scarlet A on sex offender's clothing, too. :sarcasm

Why a sarcasm alert? We already have the sex offender's list, publicly available for anybody want to search it.

Honestly, I'd really like to have a way of knowing that a driver adjacent to me has been ticketed for stupid driving offenses (unsignaled sudden lane changes, erratic lane usage owing to cell phone chatter, driving 20 mph below the speed limit in the left lane of the freeway, and of course driving while impaired by ingested chemical substances . . . among other things). Obligate an offender to display an offender license plate for, say, a calendar year, or when the plate comes up for renewal, whichever is longer. You be an idiot, you still get to drive your car, but if you incur a subsequent offense, you be in bigger trouble.

Motor vehicle driving on public roadways is a significant hazard in the U.S. It needs to be regarded as such. Your anti-gubmint libertarian soul flinches at such suggestions? Nothing in the U.S. Constitution or any of the subsequent Amendments addresses the privilege of motor vehicle driving, which requires a governmental license everywhere.

caw
 

MaryMumsy

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I went to visit a friend out of town and saw paint marks across the roads into town. They were essentially warning lines for water on the roadway--if you could see the paint, the water was at a navigable level. If you couldn't see the lines, it was dangerous (and I think there could have been traffic fines involved for attempting to cross anyway). The good thing was it prevented road crews or law enforcement from having to put barricades at those low spots during every storm. Might not be a bad idea for roads that tend to be impassable on a regular basis.

That is a great idea if you are a local. But what if I am not a local, I don't know to look for lines painted on the road, and the lines are already covered up?

OOPS

MM
 

CAWriter

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That is a great idea if you are a local. But what if I am not a local, I don't know to look for lines painted on the road, and the lines are already covered up?

OOPS

MM

There were warning signs before each spot. I can't remember the wording, but it was something to the effect of "Not passable if lines are not visible."
 

MaryMumsy

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There were warning signs before each spot. I can't remember the wording, but it was something to the effect of "Not passable if lines are not visible."

Ah, that makes it better. Thank you.

MM
 

cornflake

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That is a great idea if you are a local. But what if I am not a local, I don't know to look for lines painted on the road, and the lines are already covered up?

OOPS

MM

It's such a simple idea I think it'd be easy enough to make fairly universal. Most places have roads that flood sometimes, and then the percentage of people totally not familiar with it would drop and there'd be more people avoiding so maybe even the others would take the hint.
 

dfwtinman

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I think a lot of mountainous states have "Stupid Skier Laws", charging skiers for the cost of rescuing them when they go off the trail and get lost or rolled up in an avalanche.
 
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Why a sarcasm alert? We already have the sex offender's list, publicly available for anybody want to search it.

Honestly, I'd really like to have a way of knowing that a driver adjacent to me has been ticketed for stupid driving offenses (unsignaled sudden lane changes, erratic lane usage owing to cell phone chatter, driving 20 mph below the speed limit in the left lane of the freeway, and of course driving while impaired by ingested chemical substances . . . among other things). Obligate an offender to display an offender license plate for, say, a calendar year, or when the plate comes up for renewal, whichever is longer. You be an idiot, you still get to drive your car, but if you incur a subsequent offense, you be in bigger trouble.

Motor vehicle driving on public roadways is a significant hazard in the U.S. It needs to be regarded as such. Your anti-gubmint libertarian soul flinches at such suggestions? Nothing in the U.S. Constitution or any of the subsequent Amendments addresses the privilege of motor vehicle driving, which requires a governmental license everywhere.

caw


Every driver in my state would have the color for the above-bolded offense...