Stay Back 200 Feet

It's quite common here in Texas to see trucks on the highways that haul gravel in large loads with little pebbles falling off of the truck and bouncing on the pavement. If you get close to the truck those pebbles can bounce up and crack your windshield. This can happen if you're in the same lane behind the truck, or in a lane next to it. If you get anywhere near the truck, you run a risk of some damage to your vehicle. So? Well, the trucks have a sign on them that says "Stay Back 200 ft. Not Responsible for Damage from Falling Gravel."

Think about this. If I have a truck that is hauling some equipment that I haphazardly put in the bed of the truck, and it falls out on the highway causing damage to other vehicles, am I not responsible either? Funny, I don't think the police would look at it that way. Well, how about if I put a sign on my truck saying to stay back 200 ft, I'm not responsible for damage? I don't think that would work either. So, how do these trucking companies get that kind of exemption? Truth is they probably don't. Nevertheless, I believe it demonstrates something about American society that has things turned upside down.

These trucks use public thoroughfares just like the rest of us. They pay taxes on gasoline to finance the highways just like the rest of us. But, they can just announce that they're not responsible for things falling from those trucks. It's your own fault if you don't heed the warning. Something doesn't smell right.

Let's imagine a gravel truck on one of the Interstate highways. Now, if we all heeded the warning there would be a 200 foot gap behind the truck anywhere it went. Looked at from a traffic helicopter, the pilot would see rush hour traffic holding back 200 feet behind the truck. Have you ever seen that happen? That's the height of arrogance. I get to use public highways, but the rest of you have to roll along behind me at whatever speed I choose to drive.

No individual could get away with that. Not that the trucking company really could either, but there is this notion that business enterprises take precedence over people in America. They somehow are more important or valuable than people. In a certain economic respect they are more important. But, that's all, it's just economic. Are the rest of us then reduced to being homo economicus? Our only purpose is to consume products and stay 200 feet back.

No, I believe we homo sapiens have to come before the entities that we create. After all, Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man, man was not made for the Sabbath. This country has gotten it backwards. We the People were made for the company, the Company was not made for the people. God help us!
- posted by Marcos @ 10:22 AM (0) comments