Do You Get A Discount If You Take Out The Whole Crew?
Do you really need to know that bad things will happen if you injure or kill a construction worker? Like, "Aw, shit, I was going to pick off the foreman until I learned about the $7500 fee."
photo by Gregg Sutter
This isn't so outlandish as it seems at first. There are numerous examples of motorists killing motorcyclists yet receiving only a small fine.
People forget that laws are defined, and unless a penalty is specified, there isn't one.
Radwaste at June 19, 2008 2:33 AM
Hmm...7500 for a worker? Is a foreman worth more? Does the state impose various levels dependent on the importance of the person killed?
I think the 15 years is sufficient to deter idiots. Why should the government start putting prices on human lives? And can someone stupid enough to intentionally run over a highway worker really be expected to have $7,500 in spare cash laying around? Probably spent his last hundred filling up the tank so he can go cruising for laborers.
steveda at June 19, 2008 6:24 AM
I slow down when I pass construction workers or anybody near the road, share the road with bikers, and leave space for motorcyclists so they don't feel imperiled. I understand the need for the sign, and then...I don't. It's one of the subjects of my book -- getting people to act like they didn't just come in for a lunar landing on an uninhabited planet.
Amy Alkon at June 19, 2008 6:32 AM
What happened to the old "points" system?
Roger at June 19, 2008 6:42 AM
It's intended to make people slow down. Unfortunately in this world, telling people it will hit their pocketbook is the best way to get their attention. And it takes away the "accident" excuse, as in "I didn't see him, it was an accident". If you're speeding through the area, it's intentional according to the law. I think it's good. I also think driver's liscenses are far too easy to get. Then again, many people still don't bother to get them and drive anyway.
momof3 at June 19, 2008 7:00 AM
Yeah, but if you throw a Malotov cocktail from far enough away, they'll never catch you! But then you can't collect your fee. o_O
It's just common sense to slow down in a work zone, not only to be careful of the workers, but it's less wear and tear on your vehicle - you don't know where/if there are holes or how bad the grading is a lot of the time, so going slower is the practical thing to do. (I sometimes forget that common sense isn't so common anymore.)
Flynne at June 19, 2008 7:07 AM
In the vein of "No, U Turn," one could read the sign another way and get a little joke out of it.
Though if I were a construction worker I'd be a little surprised to know that my worth in fines is approximately $7,500. At the same time, though, most construction areas have that "Construction Ahead, Fines Double" out there, so who knows what other fines and the like can be tacked on if one decides to act stupidly.
Jean Moczy at June 19, 2008 7:56 AM
There's a professor at the University of Michigan law school, William Miller, who has written about what life is worth in the judicial system. I've seen him speak, and he's hilarious, but his major point is sound -- the term "life is cheap" is used as an insult to societies which, in fact, value life quite highly (an eye for an eye, etc.). The real advanced cultures put a dollar figure on it, and it allows life to continue pretty smoothly.
Anyway, he mentions these signs. From a recent Salon interview:
We like to think that life was cheap in those cultures, but the problem was that it was so expensive they couldn't get anything done. Life is cheap with us, despite all our talk about how we can't have capital punishment because human life is too valuable. Do you know there are these signs up on the Michigan highways that say, "Kill a worker, pay $7,500"?
Is that supposed to warn you to be careful not to hit a highway worker with your car?
Yes, because not only are you going to go to prison, but you'll pay a little fine. But everyone who drives by and reads it sees it as an insult. Seventy-five hundred for a highway worker! "Hey, I've got $7,500, let's knock one off!"
Nance at June 19, 2008 8:28 AM
Gregg actually took this shot in Detroit, probably on the way from the east side to Elmore's.
Amy Alkon at June 19, 2008 9:09 AM
I commute into California to make my wage. Right at the border they have a sign that reads, "$1,000 fine for abandoning an animal."
Is this really a problem, people driving in from neighboring states to get rid of their unwanted pets?
smurfy at June 19, 2008 10:32 AM
Amy,
I think that many people have become so immune to regular signs, PSAs, etc. that more "in your face" messages are necessary.
On a related note, I strongly believe there should be a special, advanced license in order for drivers to use a cel phone while driving - hands free or not. Most people I see can barely drive even with their full concentration. Add a cel phone and they're a Clear and Present Danger. You may enjoy seeing this, just around the corner from my home!
Robert W. at June 19, 2008 11:19 AM
I'm with Roger... What happened to the points system? It worked for me...
One point for pedestrians ...
Two points for bicycles ...
Three points for the granny with the drivers door ...
Four points for the granny with the drivers door while in the cross-walk --- extra half-point if she has a shopping cart....
Inquiring at June 19, 2008 8:31 PM
so this method of getting folks to slow down is so last year?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/28/bikini_bandits/
jim at June 20, 2008 11:02 AM
Love it, love it! The video is here.
http://regmedia.co.uk/2007/03/28/speedbandits.wmv
Not safe for work (unless you work for me).
Amy Alkon at June 20, 2008 11:10 AM
If you look into OSHA statistics, you will see why they put up signs like that. They help keep people who work on roads from being run down. Stupid that we live in a society that requires signs like that to be sensible, but not so much to the folks who are standing their pointing at each other at the side of the road - er, I mean working there.
FYI, I can get a fifteen hundred dollar fine if I let someone working for me use a ladder improperly. Sounds just as stupid, but again, it's effective. Nowadays we don't use fatalities during construction as a measure of how a large construction project went. Most places don't even use time lost injuries as a measure, because they are such a small number that it isn't worth mentioning.
DuWayne at June 21, 2008 4:51 PM
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