[fr_freak]

But it's the law (at least in Virginia), and I can't go around driving whatever speed I think is acceptable just because I feel like it. That's madness.

The speed limit is the law, but this proposal is not yet law. That is the point - that such ridiculous proposals should be challenged and shot down before they become law, and in order to do that, citizens have to keep an eye on their increasingly out-of-control legislators. My point was that accepting such ridiculous proposals and allowing them to become law is bad enough, but the real danger is all of the legislative tricks and shenanigans that these guys pull to get bad and unpopular legislation passed before voters even know what's happening (or, as we see with the immigration bill, in spite of the voters's disapproval). If they get such legislation passed into law unbeknownst to citizens or in spite of them, at what point do the voters then decide that the law is unjust?

[fr_freak]

Whoops - the excessive fines ARE law. I misread the article to say that this was still a bill, but the bill has been signed already.

[Publius Valerius]

After it is passed, evidently.

Look, if someone can demonstrate a market-based solution that adequately causes the law-breakers to internalize the externalities that are current being borne by society, I’ll gladly listen and admit it is a better solution than what is proposed here.

Otherwise, it doesn’t seem like anyone really has a response other than to stamp their feet and say “it’s not fair,” as if you have a right to drive around like a lunatic.

[Dr.Deth]

If they get such legislation passed into law unbeknownst to citizens or in spite of them, at what point do the voters then decide that the law is unjust?

If I got pinched, I'd demand a jury trial. Jury nullification is a right that not enough Americans know about, but laws like this open new eyes every day. I'm sure I'd be held in comtempt by some mini-fascist revenoo judge trying to explain to the jury their rights under the United States Constitution, but I'd surely try.