Speed demons - beware

The title of this post was lifted from from KSFY's report on the bill I've prepared that would put speeding back on the point system. The Rapid City Journal gave this good coverage yesterday. In my ten minute conversation with RCJ's David Montgomery I knew as soon as I said it this would be the quote he'd use:

"It is an obvious exclusion in the law that makes no sense," said Hickey. "You can lose your driver's license for running a stop sign, but you can go and drive like a bat out of hell, and if you can pay the fines, you're good to go in South Dakota."

My New Year resolution: don't swear, especially when talking to a newspaper reporter. This morning, Cory at Madville Times had some additional commentary on the bill proposal:

Rep. Hickey also tells RCJ that his speeding-points bill has nothing to do with famous South Dakota speeders Bill Janklow and Kristi Noem. Indeed, under Hickey’s proposal, neither Janklow nor Noem would have yet accumulated enough points within any one- or two-year period to be forced to ride horse to work. But Rep. Hickey’s bill does have just a little something to do with Janklow: it would repeal the law Janklow signed in 1986 that removed speeding from the points system. Hmm… repealing something Bill Janklow did… could this be the first legislative signal that the Janklow era is over?

My reply is as follows which includes some background as it relates to me bringing this forth:

The Janklow era will be over when our usury laws are reined back in. Even so, you make an interesting observation though none of that motivates me. We are praying for Bill. He contributed to my campaign. Kristi Noem is a good friend.

In November 2002 my dad was standing in the roadway at dusk in Hutchinson County talking to a guy in a grain truck parked on the road without tail lights – a local lead foot didn’t see him until it was too late – they calculated he was going 67 mph, 12 over at point of impact. The road looked like a deer was gutted and bled out. The next day it took a fire department and a road sweeper to remove the blood from the road. I couldn’t drive at night for 3 months because I kept seeing people standing in the road. It was a horrible way to lose my dad. (The pic is from the sign that marks the spot, a few miles west of Freeman, SD)

Not fishing here for you or anyone to feel bad for me just want to make the point that, to my family’s chagrin, the guy didn’t slow down in the years since – speeding tickets — he did lose his license last year due to a DUI.

One guy wrote me and said this will cost people their jobs as they can’t get to work. On one level I pick a life over a job but really, there will be very few people lose their license as they’d have to get 5 max violations in one year to lose their license. If they want to keep their job, slow down. This bill is not retroactive. If they continue to speed, they will reap what they sow and I’m sorry if that means they can’t get to work. I’d rather my kids have a grandpa then some guy keep his job. Honestly, it is bizarre that speeding is excluded as you can lose points for going to slow, running a stop sign, etc, etc. There is no reason to exclude it.

So far it seems law enforcement is neutral on this change. This isn’t nanny state stuff – laws that save lives are important. No one I talk to can really figure out why speeding was excluded in 1985-6 except people just grin and say “Bill Janklow wanted it.” Typically one can follow the money but in seeking a fiscal impact, so far all I get is it’s pretty unknown, probably negligible. In any case, I’m dead set against taxation by citation so if we are letting people speed because the state needs money, I don’t know, God help us.

Fun facts: When I was sixteen my license was suspended for too many speeding tickets within a six month period. Though it hit my pride, riding the school bus again was good for me, and my girlfriend didn’t seem to mind hauling me around. The lesson was learned as I slowed down and have had three citations in the twenty-nine years since; one in SD, two in Minnesota (on the same stinking day).