What Is the Compact Exception, and Why Does It Matter?

Currently, state law allows most professionals licensed in other states who relocate to Missouri an expedited path to receiving an occupational license. If the professional has been licensed for at least one year and remains in good standing, Missouri’s occupational licensing bodies must waive the state’s requirements and issue a license within six months of application.

This makes it easier for workers to relocate to Missouri. However, two key weaknesses remained:

• The relevant oversight body can wait up to six months to issue a waiver for those who meet the reciprocity guidelines.
• According to the old statue, Missouri’s licensing reciprocity “shall not apply to an oversight body that has entered a compact with another state for the regulation of practice under the oversight body’s jurisdiction.”

The second issue—the “compact exception”—was addressed by the recent passage of Senate Bill (SB) 150. SB 150 resolves this issue entirely.

Under the current language, if a Missouri licensing board joins a compact, it could actually make things worse for Missouri consumers. For example, all states require cosmetologists to have a license. Today, Missourians could have access to cosmetologists moving from all 50 states, because licensing requirements would be waived in our state. Now suppose Missouri joins a cosmetology compact that only has six member states. Due to the compact exception, licensing reciprocity would not apply to the other 43 states that have not joined the cosmetology compact (unless the language of the compact explicitly says otherwise).

Let’s Keep the Momentum Going in Occupational Licensing

SB 150 also expedites licensing timelines for qualified spouses of law enforcement officers moving to Missouri. The bill mandates that spouses of law enforcement officers who have a professional license in another state and remain in good standing receive a temporary license for their occupation in 30 days or less. Currently, this expedited process is only available to spouses of military members. This change in SB 150 points to the need for broader reform. As mentioned earlier, Missouri law allows the relevant oversight body to issue a reciprocal license in six months or less. Six months is far too long to wait to begin working, and all professionals seeking work in Missouri should have their applications reviewed in a timelier manner.

SB 150 eliminates one weakness of Missouri’s universal licensing reciprocity regime. It is a meaningful win, and hopefully we’ll see more reform in the future to make Missouri a more attractive state to move to.

The post Licensing Compact Exception Is Removed in Missouri appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The screening came just as Kansas City announced another city-sponsored initiative to deal with crime, Kansas City United for Public Safety (KCUPS). It is not yet clear how this group will differ from the previous similar collectives such as KC Nova, the Violence Free Kansas City Committee, KC Common Ground, and Jackson County’s COMBAT. Somehow this group expects to succeed where others have failed. KCUPS had meetings, published a plan, and held a press conference, so it is as real as any anti-crime effort in Kansas City.

The leader of KC Common Ground, Klassie Alcine, was at the screening and gave an interview to Jonathan Ketz of FOX4 KC. Her answer when asked how much money would be needed to address crime in Kansas City? “Billions.”

I have been writing about crime, policing, and criminal justice reform at Show-Me Institute for years. I do not present myself as an expert and I am quick to admit these issues are complex. Kansas City has gotten where it is because of years of bad decision-making. The road ahead will be difficult, slow, and expensive.

But anyone who is remotely aware of Kansas City’s history knows that we spent billions on public education and have little to show for it. We spend millions each year on anti-crime programs through the county COMBAT program without even trying to measure their impact. Kansas City shoppers are also taxed to fund an economic development fund for the city’s poverty-scarred east side. That includes a publicly subsidized grocery store recently suffering high crime.

The people of Kansas City are generous, perhaps to a fault. One more effort to address crime that looks and sounds like other failed efforts needs to do better than leading with a price tag. Tell us what you want to do and give us reasonable goals and the ways you are going to measure success. Anything less seems like asking taxpayers to throw good money after bad.

The post Shocker! Local Leader Demands More Money to Address Issue appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Jeff Asher, data analyst and co-founder of AH Datalytics, about the Real-Time Crime Index (RTCI).

They discuss how the RTCI provides a near real-time look at crime trends across the U.S. by sampling data from hundreds of law enforcement agencies. Jeff explains the challenges of working with incomplete and imprecise data, the methodology for standardizing crime statistics across different agencies, the importance of real-time data for informed decision-making, and more.

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Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

The post Real-Time Crime Data with Jeff Asher appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Forbes’s data were compiled from an array of federal organizations, including the FBI. The rankings are based on fatal accident rates, DUI arrests, road rage incidents, car thefts, risk of wildlife collision, condition of roads, and more.

Breaking the rankings down further, Missouri has the:

• 5th highest rate of car thefts
• 6th highest percentage of drivers who experienced a road rage incident
• 10th highest number of drunk drivers involved fatal car crashes
• 10th highest wildlife collision risk
• 12th highest number of people killed in fatal car accidents

The City of St. Louis likely contributes to the overall high riskiness measured in Forbes’s metric. Last year, I wrote a post during the height of mass Hyundai and Kia thefts, when thefts of those two brands soared from 273 to 3,958 in one year. During a two-week period in that August, there were 462 cars stolen or attempted to be stolen in the City of St. Louis, yet shockingly, only 1 person was charged in city courts for a crime related to auto theft over that same time period.

I’ve lived in the city for two years now, and I still haven’t seen someone in the city get pulled over for driving into oncoming traffic or running red lights. The data confirm this observation, as vehicle stops, citations, and arrests in the city have all greatly decreased.

Since 1995, the City of St. Louis has lost 22% of its residents and 40% of its police force. Police staffing shortages are real in the city. In 2024, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is budgeted to have 1,220 officers on staff, but currently only has 894.

For a city that is shrinking, the reputation and reality of having unsafe roads is a huge problem. It is imperative for St. Louis and Missouri at-large that we make a U-turn and make our roads safer.

The post Missouri Ranked as Second Most Dangerous State to Drive in appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Charles Fain Lehman, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, about his recent report titled Doing Less with Less: Crime and Punishment in Washington, DC. They explore the factors contributing to the rise in violent crime and public disorder, the impact of reduced law enforcement capacity, the broader implications for public safety, potential reforms to improve the criminal justice system, strategies for better resource allocation, and more.

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Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

The post Addressing Crime in Our Cities with Charles Fain Lehman appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The piece featured a quote from the mayor bemoaning the passage of Amendment 4 in Missouri, which required the city to up its spending on the police from 20% to 25%. The author begins with a quote from the mayor:

“The current system doesn’t work. We need more accountability, not less . . . We need more innovations in policing, not less.” Lucas explained that he doesn’t believe an increase in funding for the KCPD will be useful in countering rising violent crime.

This is interesting because in his latest budget, Mayor Lucas was eager for the Kansas City Police Department to significantly increase salaries for existing officers as well as new hires. Why would he want that if he didn’t think it would be useful?

The Pitch, perhaps to back up the mayor’s reaction to Amendment 4, offers the following:

A body of evidence shows that increasing police funding has no major impact on reducing local crime rates. One of the tropes used during the campaign for Amendment 4 was the need to fund the KCPD while skewing the increase in homicide rates in Kansas City to present the Lucas administration and the Kansas City Council as far-left partisans who care not for the safety of their constituents.

The first link (“body”) is to a page of Human Rights Watch. It doesn’t expressly conclude that police funding doesn’t reduce crime. Instead, it provides a two-stage yet still heavily qualified claim:

Studies show that investing in health care, housing, universal basic income, child care, universal pre-K, and public safety programs outside the criminal legal system infrastructure would reduce poverty and inequality, and research suggests, is likely to improve community safety. [emphasis added]

All of that may be true. But plenty—in fact most—people living in poverty and suffering inequality do not commit crime. Policing is about getting criminals off the street and deterring crime. And we know that the most common victims of crime are exactly those same poor people.

The second two links (“evidence shows” and “Increasing police funding has no major impact”) are about a single study of the 20 largest cities in Canada. Those may be compelling. But I suspect the dynamics of crime and policing between the United States and our neighbor to the north are sufficiently different to be unhelpful for Kansas City.

The last link (“reducing local crime rates”) has nothing to do with the relationship between crime and police funding. The article merely makes the argument that many places accused of defunding the police have actually increased police funding.

Instead, consider the conclusion of a 2018 study conducted by Princeton University, titled, “More COPS, Less Crime.” The author examined the impact that federal COPS funding (Community Oriented Policing Services) had on crime and concluded, without qualification, “one officer-year was added for every $95,000 spent by the federal government and that the social benefit associated with the ensuing crime reduction [was] on the order of $350,000.”

Another paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2020 concludes, without qualification, “Each additional police officer abates approximately 0.1 homicides.”

Issues surrounding crime and law enforcement are not easily settled. They are made even more complicated by partisan politics. I suspect Mayor Lucas knows better than what he claimed, and The Pitch should be a little more thorough with its facts and research.

The post The Pitch’s Half-hearted Crime Research appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Many people simply do not feel safe in St. Louis. As a city resident, I have incorporated several different habits while living in the city. To name two, I look both ways at every single green light and I ensure nothing of value is visible in my car. Auto thefts have been on the rise, and in particular, thefts of two brands (Hyundai and Kia) have soared from 273 to 3,958 in the past year in the City of St. Louis.

While there is a specific design flaw that has led to Kia and Hyundai thefts skyrocketing, the lack of punishment and deterrence might be contributing to rising vehicle crime in the city. From August 1 to August 13 in 2022, 462 cars were stolen or attempted stolen in the City of St. Louis. Yet despite the surge in auto thefts, only 1 person was charged in city courts for a crime related to auto theft during the same two week period. Whether this is due to lack of punishment or lack of law enforcement capacity to find the culprits, city residents are suffering all the same.

The lack of regard for traffic rules visible on a daily basis. For example, the day I wrote this piece, my coworker and I saw someone drive into oncoming traffic on Kingshighway Blvd, veer in front of someone turning left from the adjacent street, and blatantly run a red light. These everyday close calls can turn into fatal crashes. Despite a declining population, 230 people were killed in traffic crashes in the City of St. Louis City from 2020–2022 (with a 20 year record high of 81 in 2020) as compared to 128 from 2008–2010.

While there has been a national increase in traffic fatalities in recent years, it seems fair to wonder if local policy in St. Louis has exacerbated that trend. Even as reckless driving has seemed to increase, vehicle stops in the city have declined from their peak of 85,622 in 2009 to 45,124 in 2021. Similarly, traffic citations have decreased from 34,833 in 2009 to 17,763 in 2021. Again, whether this is due to a decision to not punish this type of crime or a lack of capacity to effectively patrol the streets, City of St. Louis residents suffer the consequences all the same.

The decline of a proud and historic city like St. Louis is a sad thing to witness. We are known as the Gateway to the West, yet sadly our streets right now more closely resemble the Wild West. If city leaders want to attract new residents and prevent current residents from leaving, they need to get a serious handle on the public safety issue, and they need to do it quickly.

The post How to Lose a City of St. Louis Guy in 10 Days appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

I have no doubt that the sales tax is being proposed in order to make sure that tourists pay their “fair share” of the costs for greater law enforcement in the area. The Lake is one region where either a sales tax or a property tax increase is going to raise significant tax money from non-permanent residents, with either tourists paying the sales (and lodging) taxes or vacation homeowners paying the property taxes.

But back to the sales tax increase. Residents know better than anyone if increased or better law enforcement in Camden County is required. They and the tourists (like me) will pay for it. But is there money available outside of a tax increase? Here are some things to consider:

• Online sales tax collections are coming (officially) to Missouri, which will increase local tax collections starting in 2023.
• Parson just signed the gas tax increase, which (assuming it survives legal challenges) will further lead to more money for counties. (The money raised has to be used on roads, but that loosens up other tax revenues.)
• In the short term, Camden County is set to get almost $9 million from the stimulus plan. That is, shall we say, a lot of money.
• Housing values are soaring, and even with the required tax rate rollbacks, there will still likely be noticeable local property tax collection increases.

Leaving aside this increased future revenue, are there other ways to increase funding for law enforcement in Camden County without tax increases?

I would suggest two things. First of all, get control of the generous tax subsidies granted to developers in the region. That is tax money that is given away to private interests instead of going to public services. The Lake Ozark region has currently promised TIF subsidies of $395 million. $395 million! To be clear, because the TIF reports don’t give addresses, and because many Lake of the Ozarks cities are in multiple counties, I can’t determine how much of that is within Camden County itself. But undoubtedly it is a very large amount of tax subsidies over the next decade or so, very likely in the hundreds of millions. That is tax revenue that could have been used for public services, including law enforcement.

Another option is greater consolidation of 911 emergency dispatching services, like Miller County and many other Missouri communities do. Camden County law enforcement agencies appear to operate their own dispatching services, which is an area ripe for economies of scale and cost savings.

But in the end, the choice, as it should be, is up to the voters.

The post A New Sales Tax for Law Enforcement in the Lake of the Ozarks appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Petty fines landing people in jail.

Budgets propped up by speed traps.

Rigged traffic lights that deceive motorists.

It’s clear that many of these cities use law enforcement more for profit than for protection. But change may finally be coming. State law is about to make it more difficult for municipalities to use police as tax collectors. Rather than double down and fight change, cities should decide how they can reduce their burden on taxpayers. Some might help everyone by going away.

Until this year, the state government failed to enforce a law—known as the Macks Creek Law—that was supposed to limited how much a city could rely on traffic fines. Reports of cities ignoring those limits date back to the late 1990s, but nothing was done. That has changed with the passage of Senate Bill 5. That bill, now signed into law, will strengthen the provisions of Macks Creek Law by lowering the amount of general revenue that can come from traffic fines to 15 percent in Saint Louis County. As for teeth, there are regular reporting requirements, and cities that do not comply will face disincorporation votes.

These changes spell trouble for many smaller cities in Saint Louis County. Twenty-seven North County municipalities have fewer than 3,000 residents, and seven have fewer than 500. Few taxpayers and increasing levels of poverty have pushed these cities to use traffic fines and other fees to stay solvent. More than a dozen of these municipalities get more than 20 percent of their total revenue from fines and court fees.

Disincorporation is a solution to the problem. There is precedent for disincorporation in Saint Louis County, most recently with scandal-ridden Saint George. Essential services, like the police, are now provided by Saint Louis County. Last year, Uplands Park held a vote on disincorporation that almost won the required supermajority.

Another solution is for cities to reduce costs by combining services. Most cities already rely on pooled services for water, power, education, and fire protection. It would not be a stretch for more cities to combine police forces or other essential services. For example, Saint Louis County already provides police for 18 municipalities. That saves money and provides localities with better-trained officers. And unlike some municipal-specific police forces, the county police do not have the same incentive to write tickets for revenue collection purposes.

Instead of turning over policing to the county, some municipalities are integrating police forces amongst themselves, with the recent example of Vinita Park and Wellston. While this in theory saves resources, residents could be stuck with the same revenue-generating practices if cities get rid of their own ticket-oriented police forces only to contract with another city that uses the same questionable practices. For example, Breckenridge expressed interest in contracting police service from Saint Ann, which has gained a reputation for using I-70 like an ATM.

Now that Senate Bill 5 is law, many municipalities are going to have to start making hard choices about whether they can continue to provide necessary services or whether they can continue at all. Residents should consider whether their towns—like Jennings, Wellston, Black Jack, and many others—can reduce spending and combine services. It may be that the best option for residents, and the region, is simply to disincorporate.

The post Time to Reform Fine-Reliant Cities appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

…within two years, bring down the total amount of general revenue a city could receive from fines and fees to 10 percent, excluding smaller cities outside of populous counties like Saint Louis. The bill makes it clear that any amended traffic fines would count toward that percentage. Furthermore, fines collected on Missouri interstates in excess of 5 percent of general revenue would also not be able to be collected by municipalities. As for enforcement, the bill makes it clear that municipalities have to provide an annual addendum to the state auditor regarding its compliance with the measure. Failure to comply triggers a vote for municipal disincorporation…

As we’ve argued before, these measures will disincentivize the use of local police and courts as tax collection agencies. They will also encourage limited government and inter-city service coordination. That’s good news for Saint Louis County and the state as whole. 

The post Governor Signs SB 5 into Law appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Starting late last year, Missouri has finally started to see action to curtail the use of police forces as tax collectors. In August, the state launched an audit of four Saint Louis County municipalities, and in December the state attorney general sued 13 municipalities for failing to abide by Macks Creek Law.

Enforcement of the existing Macks Creek Law is long overdue, but now a new state bill (SB 5) greatly strengthens the law. The bill would, within two years, bring down the total amount of general revenue a city could receive from fines and fees to 10 percent, excluding smaller cities outside of populous counties like Saint Louis. The bill makes it clear that any amended traffic fines would count toward that percentage. Furthermore, fines collected on Missouri interstates in excess of 5 percent of general revenue would also not be able to be collected by municipalities. As for enforcement, the bill makes it clear that municipalities have to provide an annual addendum to the state auditor regarding its compliance with the measure. Failure to comply triggers a vote for municipal disincorporation.

Some local officials claim that this law hurts municipalities, since the fines protect public safety. This argument falls flat because revenue collected in excess of SB 5’s provisions is simply remitted to the state, which in turn gives that money to the school systems in the county of the municipality in question. If police in local cities need to fine people to protect health and safety, they can still do so. But SB 5 takes away the narrow financial interests of the city government.

SB 5 passed the Missouri Senate and has now reached the house.

The post Changes to Macks Creek Law Making Their Way Through Missouri Legislature appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Of the cities named in the lawsuit, only four (Bellerive Acres, Moline Acres, Normandy, and Vinita Terrace) were sued for actually exceeding the 30 percent cap. The other cities have been cited for failing to meet reporting requirements or using improper methods of recording fees as a percentage of revenue. For example, one city divided the fines it received in six months by total revenue for the entire year, in what appears a very ham-fisted attempt to show compliance with the law. The chart below, with data from Better Together, shows the portion of revenue from fines that each city named in the lawsuit collects.

This lawsuit may be a step in the right direction, but it is only one step. As we pointed out in a previous blog post, there are at least five other cities not listed in this lawsuit that have more than 30 percent of their revenue coming from fines and fees. Among these are Calverton Park and Bella Villa, which collect more than 50 percent of their revenue from fines. These municipalities may be within the law, but state confirmation of this seems prudent.

Furthermore, many cities in Saint Louis County, while perhaps not in violation of the law, are still collecting very large portions of their revenue through fines. Twelve municipalities, mostly in North Saint Louis County, collect between 20 and 30 percent of their revenue from fines. In most municipalities, this percentage is less than 15 percent. The state could lower the cap on fines in the Macks Creek Law to further protect state residents from law enforcement acting as tax collectors.

But as the current situation demonstrates, it matters little if fines are capped at 30 percent, 25 percent, or 15 percent of general revenue if the state does not enforce existing law. The state clearly has not done this in the past, and without the tragic events in North Saint Louis County and subsequent scrutiny of city policing tactics, who knows how long it would have taken for Macks Creek Law to be enforced? The state could benefit from a more systematic, not crisis driven, approach to statutory oversight.

The post Enforcing Macks Creek Law: Progress in Saint Louis County appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

We’ve written before about how many Saint Louis municipalities get large, possibly illegal, portions of their revenue from zealous enforcement of traffic laws and local ordinances. Twenty municipalities get more than 20 percent of their revenue from fines and fees, with three cities (Calverton Park, Bella Villa, and Vinita Terrace) deriving more than 50 percent of revenue from those sources.

And should one of the many recipients of these citations need to appear in local court because they wish to challenge the citation or cannot pay the fine (or fix their ticket), it is far from convenient. Calverton Park and Bella Villa both only hold traffic court one evening a month. As an in-depth story in the Washington Post described, many residents, especially the poor, have a difficult time navigating the process.

Allowing defendants with outstanding warrants to set things right is a way of relieving some of the built up stress for locals, but a more long-term solution is to make policing about law and order, not revenue collection, in all Saint Louis County municipalities. That may mean combining police or court services with other municipalities, or if necessary disincorporating cities altogether. At the state level, that could mean strengthening and enforcing the Macks Creek Law. If something isn’t done to fix the underlying problem of burdensome municipalities, this holiday amnesty’s impact won’t long outlive the holidays themselves.

The post Warrant Forgiveness: A Step in the Right Direction for Saint Louis County Cities appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The video shows a LaGrange police officer shooting and killing a mixed-breed pit bull. According to police reports, the dog acted aggressive toward officers and a young child. But the owner is telling a different story.

“She was a big dog, she was playful, she liked to jump around. But she’s never acted aggressively toward anybody,” says the dog’s owner Marcus Mays.

Mary Coleman says the dog attacked her six-year-old daughter.

“I hear a big dog growling and I turn around and it was running towards us. I shut my daughter behind me and I started to yell and kick at it,” Coleman said.

It was late March when Coleman and her daughter were waiting for the bus. A dog wrestled out of its leash and came running at Coleman’s daughter. Coleman was able to fight off the dog and go back to her trailer to call police.

“It followed me down here and it started acting real calm again. I got the chain around it and fed it some dog food. That might have been the trick, feeding it dog food,” Coleman said.

According to the video, the dog looks calm as officers put a collar around its neck and only gets agitated when police use an animal restraint pole.

The video certainly does not give any indication that this is a vicious dog. At the beginning, it is leashed to a truck and when the officers try to collar it, the dog retreats instead of attacking. It’s at least possible that the dog was a danger to public safety, but given that the dog was restrained at the time, this seems like something that could be determined after a judicial hearing of some kind. Furthermore, the video does show that the police were having some difficulty taking the dog into custody, but they could have presumably tranquilized the dog instead of killing it.

This case once again highlights the importance of recording devices in holding government accountable. The proliferation of cell phone cameras and audio recorders cannot help but shine a light on unpleasant occurrences that previously would have been swept under the rug. However, unless we change the way that police deal with domestic animals, nothing will change in the long run. If we want to prevent the unnecessary shootings of family pets, localities need to start defining more precisely which conditions are necessary and sufficient for police to use lethal force against pets.

The post Police Need Better Protocol for Dealing With Pets appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The discussion will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 9,
at the Show-Me Institute Office at 4512 W. Pine.
Please RSVP either by email, to info@showmeinstitute.org,
or by phone at (314) 454-0647,
or by commenting on this blog post.

Sen. Lembke, who represents part of the city of Saint Louis and Saint Louis County, has spoken out against the use of red light cameras, on the grounds that they entail the presumption of guilt. As he said in a Post-Dispatch article, “[the use of red light cameras] takes liberty away in that there’s no other crime that I know of on the books where I as a citizen am guilty until I prove my innocence.”

Alderman French, who represents the 21st ward, has been campaigning hard to have surveillance cameras set up near high-crime areas in his ward. In the Riverfront Times blog, French explained that the crime is coming from a small group of people, and that surveillance cameras might deter that activity. From the RFT:

“It’s the same group of bad guys doing bad things,” French says. “We’ll advertise the hell out if it, that there’s cameras. One of reason people do things is because they think that can get away with it. If they know somebody is watching it’s very likely they’ll go somewhere else to do drug activity and violence.”

One of the most interesting aspects about the use of both red light and surveillance cameras is that the cameras will likely soon be able to identify, without a doubt, the individual committing a crime. At that point, although camera surveillance seems to be a particularly un-American activity, is there any constitutional argument against it? Do cameras really infringe upon our liberties if they are placed in public places where any police officer could also be placed?

French and Lembke will have the opportunity to answer these questions, and others, on June 9. If you are free, please drop by. The discussion will be informal; it our hope that attendees can ask the elected officials questions directly, and be part of an engaging conversation about the trade-offs between liberty and security.

Liberty on the Rocks is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, social organization that seeks to unite individuals, regardless of political affiliation, who desire liberty. With the goal of facilitating networks, friendships, and intelligent conversation, Liberty on the Rocks seeks to initiate the energy and dialogue necessary to move America from the grassroots up, toward the constitutional principles of freedom used to found this nation.

The post Policing By Camera: A Discussion of Red Light and Surveillance Cameras as a Tool of Law Enforcement appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The post Even Justified SWAT Raids Can Be Deadly appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called distracted driving a “hot button” issue for state legislatures and said he’s against all distracted driving, not just cell phone use.

“I don’t care what the distraction is,” he said. “We’re going to set the highest bar possible. There should be no distractions.”

An obvious problem with outlawing all distractions is that we could never enforce such broad controls on drivers’ behavior. That doesn’t dissuade the texting ban’s supporters, who say that whether anyone is ever found to be in violation of a law doesn’t matter. Here’s how an AAA spokesman puts it:

“The benefit of having it in the statute is voluntary compliance, sort of like every other law.”

Perhaps the roads are safer because drivers willingly cooperate with texting bans, but, if so, texting bans are the exception. Most laws are effective because we can prosecute people for breaking them, and thereby deter people from breaking them in the future.

The more laws we write restricting drivers’ activities, the less we’ll be able to depend on their voluntary compliance. Drivers won’t pay attention to a laundry list forbidding every activity they could engage in while behind the wheel.

The post No Distractions appeared first on Show-Me Institute.