PUBLIC SAFETY
Driving in storm without lights creates a hazard
I was recently driving on I-285 and got caught in a big storm. Gusty winds, heavy rain and flash flooding caused hazardous driving conditions and poor visibility. Some drivers (like myself) slowed down, turned on their headlights and drove cautiously under 40 mph.
On the other hand, some reckless drivers were driving fast, and had no headlights on.
Law enforcement regularly employs patrol cars, cameras and radar guns to catch speeding drivers. But to me, driving without lights on during a thunderstorm is more dangerous.
Girish Modi, Decatur
IMMIGRATION
Probationers can’t replace farm laborers
Regarding the probationers as farm workers idea, Gov. Nathan Deal is pandering to gain support from people with two kinds of prejudice: prejudice against Hispanics, and prejudice against people who have served time in prison.
He claims that probationers can replace farm laborers. He never explains how the probationers are going to get to the agricultural areas where the labor is needed. He never explains that even if all of the probationers worked, the crops would still not get harvested, because they would replace only a portion of the required laborers. The program is unworkable (even if all of the probationers were willing and able to work all day, seven days a week), but Gov. Deal still promotes it as the answer to the problems created by this law.
When it doesn’t work out, people will blame the probationers — not the governor who signed the law which created the problem, and invented the doomed program to “solve” the problem.
Richard Davies, Morrow
IMMIGRATION
Law should be fair, not unconstitutional
HB 87 is unconstitutional, and Gov. Nathan Deal was made aware of this when a judge blocked a portion of this legislation. I am positive that the proponents of HB 87 will appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court, but I am confident that they, too, will address the unconstitutionality of the proposal and strike it down.
The illegal immigration issue should be addressed with fairness for all parties.
Frank Perez, Conyers
TRANSPORTATION
If tolls are raised, public should get new roads
With all due respect, arbitrarily raising tolls in and around Atlanta just for the sake of reducing traffic is financial idiocy (“More tolls would be a benefit to Georgia,” Metro, June 27). Sure, raising tolls will reduce traffic, but at what price? Sure, rising gas prices reduced driving and encouraged more fuel-efficient cars, but at what price? We are seeing the results of a “managed” economy right now.
The U.S. got to where it was specifically because its government allowed the people to make decisions and do business with a minimum of government intervention. What we are seeing today is the accumulation of policies just like what this column is advocating. If we are to pay more tolls, we should be getting something for it, like new roads.
Closs West, Canton
