The new ad for seat belt enforcement.
They claim that cops write tickets to save lives.
I know for a fact that they write tickets because its in their job discription. Plus I was told they have a monthly "quota", especially if assigned to traffic. I worked with law enforcement for awhile and I'll tell you some of these cops use their power inappropiately, they'll go on what I'd call hunting sprees to catch anybody they can to get their brownie points.
With that said, I personally always wear a seat belt and I can see the benifits of enforcing it, but don't lie and tell me if I don't do it the ticket will safe my life.
I see appeal to authority: we all know a seat belt has the potential to save a life, but now cops say writing a ticket will.
appeal to force: the whole click it or ticket phrase
Theres some kind of cause, maybe complex cause: the fact a cop writes a ticket is life saving
fallacy of deduction: seat belts save lives, if you're not wearing one they ticket you, and that act also saves lives.
fallacy of distraction: this is similar to the above. If you want to save your life, you could either wear a seat belt or get a ticket for not wearing one.
I'm also sensing an unrepresentative sample: I can see how indirectly getting a ticket could save that persons life and others, for example, it might slow down a speeder who could've lost control and rammed into someone. But I can't see how writing a parking ticket would save a life.
I know I must have gotten something correct here.
7 comments:
Being ex-law enforcement, and having written tickets - I will steer clear of this one ;)
Sharky, you're steering clear because you do have expertise? All POV's welcome!
OK BC - you convinced me - seat belts do save lives, according to statistics http://www.californiaautoinsurance.net/seatbelts.htm 3 out of 5 people survive due to the proper use of seat belts. From a cops perspective - in regards to quota - I believe the official way it was worded to us was "there is a monthly average written by alert officers" - it is at the officer's discretion as to whether or not to issue the citation. Money generated by citations (also known as tickets) goes toward municipal expenses such as street repair. And from a former firefighter's point of view (switching hats)...I have seen many sad cases where a person (a lot of times a child) was ejected from a vehicle and killed as a result of not wearing a seat belt. In fact, when I worked traffic my pet peeve was children not properly secured in a vehicle. A more common injury as a result of not wearing a seat belt is a fractured sternum which occurs when the driver's chest impacts the steering wheel (motor vehicle accidents (MVA) account
for almost 90% of all blunt chest traumas and in worst case scenario the driver dies from a severe thoracic injury to the heart or greater vessels http://www.continuingeducation.com/nursing/thoracicinjury/thoracicinjury.pdf)- of course now they have air bags which prevent the chest from hitting the steering wheel and the head from hitting the windshield. I cannot speak for all police officers, but I can speak for those that I know - they pull people over for speeding and not wearing a seat belt because they care about their safety and dont want to scrape any more dead people off of the road. I dont like looking in my rear view mirror and seeing a police car either - especially if a red light is shining in my direction - but trust me, they have our best interest at heart.
Sharky
please read my comment agian, you'll see that I'm not against seat belts or the enforcement of them, I always wear mine and so do my passengers, nor did I say that I did not think seat belts save lives, I know a seat belt has the "potential" to save a life and commented on the speeder, and I said they write tickets because its their job description, whether a particular cop has the publics best interest in mind or not. my arguement was they claim that cops write tickets to save lives. just because they write a ticket doesn't guarantee a live is saved. I interpreted it as the act of writing the ticket or the ticket itself saves lives. So I claimed it as a fallacy. Its just an assignment to me and poor wording on an advertisement caught my ear.
Maybe you took it too personal being an ex-cop. I'm not a cop hater, tho I don't always appreciate some of their attitudes. I worked around police, CHP and sheriffs, I've seen a variety. And just to mention, there are some very cool and good hearted law enforecment out there, I have personally encountered.
:)
I didnt take it personally - and I agree with you that a lot of cops have bad attitudes. I wasn't try to attack, just explain a little from the other perspective. I probably got too ahead of myself. I didn't know you were listing it as a fallacy to be honest. Sorry if I got too deep or off topic - I hesitated to even comment as I didn't want to offend you :)
Not offended, just didn't want to be misunderstood, as I often am.
Ah, yes, but see how many blog entry credits these misunderstandings render!
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