Globally Rational

For the past year, my driving record has been clean and my insurance rates are about to go down. So you can imagine how I felt when a police officer lowered his window and tried to get my attention at a red light today. I didn’t know if one of my tail lights was our or if the cop just saw me take my eyes off the road when I made a phone call, but the last thing I wanted was another ticket to add to my less-than-spectacular record.

I rolled down my window and got my answer. “Where did you get those rims?”
I exhaled. “I bought them online… they’re called TSW Kyalami.”
“Oh OK… they’d look good on my A6; how big are they?”
“19 inches. I’m actually selling them soon… do you want my number?”

We pulled into a parking lot and exchanged information. It was all pretty straightforward; he said he’d talk to his wife and get back to me (which he probably won’t). But it got me thinking: why do we always have to be so worried about law enforcement?

Of all the cities I’ve visited, the traffic law is most efficient in Kuwait. They have cameras and radar sensors on the streets, so people are afraid to drive too fast. Also, all cars in Kuwait make an annoying beeping noise at 120 km/hr (75 mph, the speed limit on the highway). There is a lot of reckless driving, but nobody does anything that would warrant law enforcement action.

In Pakistan, on the other hand, you can do anything you want on the road without much fear of consequences. If you do get pulled over, you can pay off the cop easily. On the other hand, if they don’t like you for some reason, you can expect to be beaten unless you want to pay them well. But people still don’t worry when they see cops, since they know that the law is irrelevant… the cops won’t bother you unless you’re getting in their way.

We have a balance between the two systems here. But Kuwait has no crime (probably because their law enforcement can focus on real crime instead of trying to make money by giving tickets) and Pakistan has astronomical crime… we also have a balance between those two results. Maybe we could stand to learn something from the countries that are doing it right. We can’t implement the exact same system (Kuwait is much smaller than the US… although we might be able to do it state-by-state), but it might be helpful to spend some money on radar technology next year instead of signing another contract with Ford for a bunch of new Crown Victorias.

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