Comments on: Minnesota ‘unsession’ purges more than 1,000 obsolete laws

By: TrooperJohnSmith

TrooperJohnSmith — Sat, 31 May 2014 16:31:45 +0000

Yeah, coasting in neutral was always “a’gin the law” when I was a kid. The reason, my old Driver’s Ed teacher explained, was that so many early vehicles (pre-synchromesh) were hard to reengage into gear, especially at higher speeds. Coupled with old-style brakes, a coasting vehicle could easily fail to stop, especially in hills or mountains. In other words, the transmission was always a braking device.

By: Estragon

Estragon — Sat, 31 May 2014 06:27:21 +0000

All states have tons of bad laws, many of which are regularly enforced.

Coasting in neutral is a safety issue, though. You don’t have the same braking power or distance when you coast in neutral.

By: platypus

platypus — Sat, 31 May 2014 05:49:10 +0000

You can’t say that!!!

By: TugboatPhil

TugboatPhil — Fri, 30 May 2014 16:31:11 +0000

In the 60s I heard truckers refer to it as a “Georgia Overdrive.”

By: stevewhitemd

stevewhitemd — Fri, 30 May 2014 15:01:53 +0000

What Minnesota did is a good start. They will need to do this yearly for the next decade and it will get harder as one pares down the law. But it’s one of the better bits of news I’ve read this week. Thank you Mandy!

By: Henry Hawkins

Henry Hawkins — Fri, 30 May 2014 14:16:05 +0000

Silly laws = symptom
Silly lawmakers = disease

By: mzk

mzk — Fri, 30 May 2014 13:46:11 +0000

Sounds like a scene from Idiocracy, about the “UN”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DueSvcjn810

Anyone remember when it was the Left that pushed things like this? It depends who created the laws.

By: Valerie

Valerie — Fri, 30 May 2014 02:50:06 +0000

It has to start somewhere.

By: J Motes

J Motes — Fri, 30 May 2014 01:32:18 +0000

“We got rid of all the silly laws”

Now if only lawmakers at all levels of government would work on getting rid of the oppressive laws, job-killing laws, burdensome regulatory laws, anti-liberty laws, anti-family laws, anti-parent laws, anti-Christian laws, pro-debauched nation laws, pro-nanny state laws, precautionary laws, energy-suppressing laws, costly but useless climate-change laws, environmental-extremist laws, education-as-indoctrination laws, etc.

While the idea is nice, the examples provided show they repealed laws that aren’t being enforced anyway (e.g., “carry fruit in an illegally sized container”). And 1,175 laws plus 30 advisory boards, councils, and task forces form only a tiny portion of the number of laws and government agencies that control every aspact of our lives.

Cute story, nice gesture, but ultimately of little value in removing the chains that bind us to the state. Instead of making me feel a glimmer of hopeful anticipation, somehow this story makes me feel cranky, curmudgeonly, and crushed.

By: smalltownoklahoman

smalltownoklahoman — Fri, 30 May 2014 00:33:40 +0000

Would love to see this repeated at the federal level should republicans win back Congress and the White House!

By: rinardman

rinardman — Fri, 30 May 2014 00:26:29 +0000

“We got rid of all the silly laws,”….

Wish Illinois would do that.

Or, just get rid of the Democrats. Same thing.

By: randian

randian — Fri, 30 May 2014 00:03:03 +0000

Good for Minnesota. Not a state where I would have expected this.

By: genes

genes — Thu, 29 May 2014 23:44:39 +0000

“And it’s now legal to drive a car in neutral — if you can figure out how to do it.”
Either no hills in Minnesota, someone dumber than the law.
Neutral on the downhill, sometimes called Mexican Overdrive.

By: TugboatPhil

TugboatPhil — Thu, 29 May 2014 23:29:02 +0000

I can’t think of many laws that shouldn’t have a 5-10 year Sunset provision. When I was a kid there was a common saying which went, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.”

In 2014 it’s a d@mn good excuse since even law enforcement doesn’t even know some of them.