Try again, Examiner, this time without supporting lawbreakers.

Take a look at the Examiner’s headline today. Drivers pay price for blown budgets. Examiner is apparently upset that in this time of recession, governments are punishing people who break the law. To quote:

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty is seeking higher penalties for dozens of traffic violations in an effort to generate nearly $30 million. The plan is highlighted by a photo radar push to collect $40.7 million this year and $56.8 million in 2011, a 40 percent jump…

“They’re using motorists as their ATM machines, ” said John Townsend, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman. “It’s patently wrong.”

Let’s be absolutely clear about this. Examiner and AAA are trying to paint people who break the law as victims.

No.

People who break the law are not victims. They are criminals. If you don’t want to pay a big fine, don’t break the law. The headline should read Criminals Pay Bigger Price For Being Criminals, or to repeat what we all learned in kindergarten: Crime Doesn’t Pay.

Examiner interviewed Richard Layman of Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space near the end of their article-in-defense-of-lawbreakers, who gets it right when he says:

“I wish that our friends at the AAA would be advocating for increases in these fines every year regardless of these budget issues because the average motorist breaks a law every day, ” said Richard Layman, a local bike and pedestrian planner. “The real problem is the roads are designed to allow high speeds all the time regardless of context.”

If there is any way that drivers are victims in this situation, it’s that too many roads are designed to encourage high speeds. It is admittedly unfair for a street to have a design speed of 70 miles per hour and a posted speed limit of 45 mph. Streets shouldn’t be designed that way, and those that are should be rebuilt more reasonably. But regardless, it is still up to drivers to follow the law, and it is irresponsible for Examiner to imply that drivers are somehow entitled to drive faster than the law allows.