What a week for backbiting and bickering here in beautiful Speedway! Apparently, a long-simmering "civil war" of sorts between two factions of Speedway has lit up our friendly NextDoor feed. I have no comments on any of the substance being debated, other than to note that at some point all discussions can become so "high level" and abstract that they lose all meaning.
I do have something, however, to say regarding one gentleman's reference to a town ordinance setting the speed limit at 20 mph in certain areas of the town being contrary to state law. This, of course, piques my interest, and I have some thoughts, on a variety of levels. Please forgive the scatter-shot nature of these comments:
1. The gentleman referenced Indiana Code 9-21-5, though he failed to reference a particular section. As a practice pointer, when you argue from authority it is best to specify the authority from which you argue. I can only presume that this gentleman, who clearly cares very deeply about his community, was referencing I.C. 9-21-5-6(a). Here is a link to the statute referenced.
2. There is mention of "if they want to have a low speed limit there, why not everywhere else" type arguments. As a general rule, these arguments are logical fallacies . . . if I'm going to work out my heart, why not also work out my legs? Don't they deserve exercise? Why take Saturday off work? Doesn't my family want to see me on Monday too? The point, as many surgeons will tell you, is that sometimes "better" is the enemy of "good," and "perfect" is the worst enemy of all. Why improve one part of Speedway when other parts also need improving? Because it's our town and it deserves improvement. Let's not allow perfect to be the enemy of good.
3. On a philosophical note, why does this upstanding gentleman side with the State of IN over the Town of Speedway? Does he honestly believe that state Senator Dean Kruse, from Auburn, IN, knows better what is right for Speedway than does the local town council? Why assume that Speedway is the villain here and not the overreaching state government?
4. Continuing on the philosophical point, why is it that "conservative," "small government," "close to the people" Indiana has laws that require a Town like Speedway to undertake an "engineering and traffic investigation"? Is this some sort of a "crony capitalist" racket on behalf of companies like American Structure Point? It is laws like these that stymie economic growth. If a community thinks that Course A is in its best interests, but the State of Indiana says "you can only take Course B," it doesn't take a rocket scientist to predict the results.
5. While we're on the topic of terrible laws, neither "engineering," "traffic," nor "investigation" is defined in Title 9. Perhaps, were this to go to court, the Town could merely say that they discussed this with their local police officers, who have been conducting an informal "engineering and traffic investigation" for years. Voila!
6. Getting away from the text of the law itself, there is also the common law notion of "standing." The gentleman suggested that everyone who ever got a traffic ticket there should form a "class action" lawsuit. Forget for a moment the intricacies of class action law (and there are plenty). Let's focus on standing. Can you identify someone who has been particularly harmed by this ordinance (who would not have otherwise been harmed), how such harm can be specifically related to the offense, and how court action can redress the harm. Without standing, your lawsuit doesn't make it past Day 1.
7. In addition to common law standing (as discussed above), can we even tell whether this statute provides for a private cause of action (i.e. lawsuit)? What if the only party/person that is authorized to sue over this is the state executive? Maybe it's the county commissioners? Maybe its the state legislature?
As I hope I've made clear, I have nothing but respect for the individual who cares so deeply about his community that he is willing to do a bit of research and put his opinions "out there" publicly. This is merely my randomized thoughts on one very small part of what this person had to say.
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