Our trip brought us from Denver, through Durango and then the four corners region, through monument valley, down to the Grand Canyon, and back up the devil's highway through Utah, around to Vail, and finally back home to the Denver area.Needless to say I had a great experience touring the American Southwest and Navajo Nation!
However, I do have one issue... speeding tickets in the Arizona desert. I got a ticket for doing 60 in a 55 zone in the middle of the desert outside of Kayenta (Monument Valley). The ticket wasn't for speeding though, it was for "Wasting Finite Resources"... that is right... wasting gasoline. NOW, this brings up a very interesting discussion on PERSONAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. I paid for the fuel, I own it... I can dump it into a fire, or burn it in an engine... What role does the state have to tell me how to use my personally owned gasoline? I am going to look into fighting this ticket on the basis of personal property rights in Arizona. Anyone have any insight into this crazy Arizona law?
Other than that, the desert was cold! The air temperature was in the 60's, but the wind had a bitter bite to it that was 30 at best... so we spent most of our time hunkering down out of the wind... but enjoying a beautiful view!
And now that I am back, I will catch-up on the events, and continue posting... but I will surely update on the ticket... wasting finite resources... I'm going to really look into the history of this! What a way to fund your local government... raping the wallets of tourists doing 5 over the speed limit, and in a line of traffic no less! (Officer Smith said: "where in the law does it say that you can speed if you are just keeping up with traffic?" - a wise guy!)At least we got stunning pictures!
I just recieved the same goofy ticket...the comment to me was "you cant stop everyone"...I am really interested in what you found out...I have downloaded some opinions contrary to the fact that oil is not a finite resource...it was based on economics ..doug
ReplyDeleteThe cop writes that ticket to "give you a break" instead of speeding, which carries a very stiff fine ($150+) depending on speed + points. The finite resources ticket is $65 and has no points. My advice - pay the ticket and count your blessings, all they were after was a little of your money. Arizona is a liberal police state, and its getting worse. Napolitano buried this state with all of the liberal pork programs and overspending - now citizens and vistors alike have to pay for it somehow. There are money extraction cameras all over the state now too. Its impossible not to speed here - the roads are wide open and there are few people on them - but it comes with a heavy price so they have you over a barrel. Consider it a road use tax. Despite the safety lecture you get by the cops, they are all nothing more than overpaid tax collectors. Mark from Phoenix.
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