Iowa bill seeks to ban flashy, spinning auto wheel covers
I’ve heard of people saying stuff like that. The way I think if it is, if you can’t tell a car’s not moving and you start going, maybe you shouldn’t have a driver’s license.
- Brian Kaminski
Having apparently solved all of the other pressing problems facing the state of Iowa, our intrepid DUMB@$$ has apparently decided to begin to rid his state of the accoutrements of the evil HipHop culture. I wonder if Rep. Struyk would be taking these same steps if we were talking about, oh, I don’t know…gunracks?
What’s next? Rap music? Those (uber silly) bouncing suspension kits? I understand that Rep. Struyk may think he is doing something useful, but this strikes me as just plain silly, and it smacks of attempting to create a problem where none exists.
Think what you will about spinners (and speaking only for myself, I generally don’t), they hardly pose a risk on the level of say, drinking and driving or talking on a cell phone while putting on makeup as you read a newspaper at 60 MPH.
Rep. Doug Struyk wants to outlaw car and truck wheel covers fitted with flashy spinners that keep rotating after a vehicle has stopped. The Republican legislator says they can cause accidents.
The wheel covers, which have gained popularity in the past couple of years, are placed on pickups or refurbished older model cars as an accessory.
Struyk says they can make it difficult to tell whether a vehicle is moving or stopped.
His bill would make it a simple misdemeanor for a motorist to drive a vehicle equipped with the spinners, punishable by a fine of $10.
Struyk said he was nearly involved in an accident in November near Bentley, Iowa. He was driving a truck pulling a 16-foot trailer loaded with a dozen ladders. He approached an intersection as a car with the spinning wheel covers approached from another direction. He said the spinners made it appear as if the car might still be moving through the intersection, so he braked hard and the trailer nearly jackknifed.
So, because one angry lawmaker cannot discern the different between a vehicle being stationary or in motion, any law-abiding citizens who just happen to like spinners has to suffer?
If Rep. Struyk is so terrifically concerned about highway safety, how about dealing with some of the real risk factors out there? Spinning rims are not the problem here. A DUMB@$$ with the ability to write legislation just might be, though.
