You know what they say about absolute power. We asked our readers earlier this week which laws they would change if they spent a day working out of the Oval Office. I can't rule on constitutionality or feasibility, but the comments section was loaded with suggestions that ranged from petty to seriously transformative. A few of you would probably love to set up a car crusher on the National Mall to publicly punish reckless drivers. Let's be clear that an inclusion on this list isn't a political endorsement from Jalopnik or me. Without further ado, these are the ideas that commenters would force on the American people:
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Not only can the President still drive, but they can drive whenever and wherever they want.
If I was prez, I think I would use the Senator Amidala method of travel. I'm not in the Presidential Limo and procession. That's just the decoy. I'll be driving the random Porsche Cayman GT4 RS, that left about 30 minutes earlier, wearing my fake beard and sunglasses.
Submitted by: Dr.Xyster
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As in the case in some European countries, the amount you pay for any traffic violation depends on your tax-reported income. Billionaires would then have to pay millions for a speeding ticket.
I would also greatly increase the fines for causing accidents, especially during rush hours. Nothing I hate more than my 20 min commute taking 45 mins b/c some dumb-dum didn't check his mirrors and hit someone.
Submitted by: Gerrit DeBoer
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This is a 'yes, and' moment for me.
Enforce CARB rules nationwide. Rewrite CAFE standards to not emphasize building bigger vehicles. Reintroduce and expand EV tax credits, but require the vehicles to be union-made. Introduce pedestrian safety as well as visibility standards that would incentivize trucks to start shrinking down, rewrite road design standards to emphasize more mixed use and stop the creation of new stroads. To further incentivize smaller vehicles, put a tax on larger vehicles which can be used to pay for the rapid development of high-speed rail.
Submitted by: Connor Paull
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Install headlight LEDs brighter than manufacturer spec or into lens housings they were never designed for? Your vehicle gets turned into a cube.
Submitted by: aburneraccountuser
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If you wait until the last second to merge to try and pass all the people already waiting to merge, your car is impounded and crushed and you lose your license.
Submitted by: Hank_Kill
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I don't think I'd change any laws (because fundamentally most are pretty reasonable). What I would change is enforcement – get the tailgaters, left-lane bandits, the trucks with unsecured loads, the racers weaving in and out, and the morons rolling coal off the roads, or give them fines so high it's actually painful.
And end oil and gas subsidies, so the playing field is level for all manufacturers.
Submitted by: BuddyS
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Not a traffic law per se, but I would forbid any landscaping that is taller than 2 feet within 20 feet of an intersection or a driveway. Far too often, I drive up to an intersection and have to inch my way past the foliage to see oncoming traffic (both ways).
Submitted by: Itsdrainageeli
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Written retests every license renewal, nothing crazy, but if I have to do annual compliance training at work for harassment and data compliance, we can review the basics of driving at least every 3-5 years. On-the-road driving tests every 10 years.
Vehicle Safety and diagnostics inspections of tires, brakes, suspension, and emissions are cost-free at any service station, as paid for by the NHTSA and state DOTs and are required to happen at least every 3 years. So if you go in for an oil change, the center can ask if you want to update these in the system. No additional inspection centers needed, but like Medicare and others, if a shop is caught fraudulently doing this, it's defrauding the fed and state governments, so it's no joke to keep unsafe cars on the road.
14-point ticket if you are pulled over for camping out in the left lane, with universal reciprocity among states.
Submitted by: potbellyjoe
