Stage Eight: (Response To) "Allowing Consequences to Those Who Don't Follow Rules"

In, Allowing Consequences to Those Who Don’t Follow Rules, posted by my classmate Kenna Froehlich, she goes over the article, Give a GreenLight to Red Light Enforcement, posted by the American Statesman. The topic at hand is that the city of Austin should be given more authority to take action on those who are evading paying their fines for running red lights. Froehlich argues that the city does indeed need more authority to take action for financial benefits and safety benefits. Froehlich states, “If we continue to allow these people to break the law and cause these wrecks, we will also continue to hurt our people and our financial problems.”

I completely agree with Kenna, the city of Austin does need increased authority to enforce action on those who have tickets for running red lights so that they can pay up their fines. They broke the law and shouldn’t be allowed to think “oh it’s just a minor red light ticket.” As stated throughout her post, having those fined pay their tickets will not only benefit the city financially but benefit it safety wise. Those who neglect to pay on their tickets are causing the city to lose money that could help in raising revenue. As we discussed in one of our discussion topics, this could help in closing the gap. Now safety wise, those who run red lights run the risk of causing wrecks that could cause injuries and in some cases deaths. If the city enforces action, some accidents can be prevented. Action may lead to drivers being more cautious in order not to ticketed or fined. Let’s face it, nobody wants to have to pay a fine or be hunted down just for running a red light. Drivers will take necessary precautions to avoid the hassle. The experience shouldn’t be a pleasant one. So, I’m all in favor for the necessary action to be taken in order to gain these benefits not only for our financial gains and safety gains, but for our city.