No Barriers On The Road To Personal Responsibility

I first noticed it while driving along Lake Coeur d’Alene on the way to a nearby hike. No guardrail to prevent the reckless motorist from ending up in the lake. I noticed it again when my wife and I drove past a local garden store at night and saw the piles of fertilizer and expensive landscaping trees sitting on display in the darkened lot. No fence to prevent the dishonest from pilfering.

How refreshing! As a long term resident of large American cities, I have often felt that the only remaining example of responsibility this society could muster is the newspaper machine. Put your coins in, remove a newspaper from the stack, and close the door. Anyone who’s done this knows that once the door is open, all the newspapers can be removed. Yet, I am told this kind of theft is quite rare even in large cities. Perhaps it has something to do with the lack of controls whose absence triggers something in us to control ourselves. Responsibility.

In California, a road like this would have a guardrail on every curve, blocking an otherwise beautiful view. It would be exactly 26 inches tall, with supports every 24 inches, and be made of 14-gauge galvanized steel because that is what the lawyers say it takes to protect us from ourselves in the event we become irresponsible. So the theory goes, the moment we become irresponsible, the guardrail then becomes responsible for keeping us from going off the road and harming ourselves.

Let’s say that 99.9999 percent of us are responsible enough to negotiate that curve without needing a 26-inch tall barrier. This means because of that one bozo in a million, the rest of us devote tax money to build them and suffer a deteriorated view in the bargain.

This approach to individual responsibility in North Idaho and the ability to drive on a beautiful road without blight is one of my favorite reasons to brag about living here. You either take responsibility for your own actions, or suffer the consequences.

Even in nearby Spokane, this approach is not in use any more due to that city’s evolution into a big city. The other day, I was crossing one of the many bridges there, and saw a sign as I drove onto it reading “No sidewalk provided.” Hmm. Clearly the powers that be over there feel their citizens are not responsible enough to notice the lack of a sidewalk.

Much to my chagrin, an example of our leaders wanting to protect us from ourselves recently popped up on the dirt road around Hayden Lake. Large yellow signs were placed along the road for the winter months warning that “equipment maybe working on either side of the road.” Fair enough on its surface, but let’s think about this one. If you are driving so fast on one of the many blind curves of this rough narrow dirt road that you cannot stop on encountering a plow, perhaps you deserve whatever harm comes to you. Or perhaps you shouldn’t be behind the wheel at all.

For more than 50 years, that road has been signless, and motorists have been responsible enough to negotiate it. From now on, that road will bear the stamp of irresponsible drivers and those who would protect us from ourselves. Ignore for the moment that the grammar is incorrect and that a bright yellow warning sign degrades the otherwise pristine views. It is more important to note that this may be the opening salvo in a change from responsibility for ourselves to reliance on public authorities - the very thing many of us moved here to escape.

I think it’s time we draw the line. Let’s decide right now whether we want views or guardrails. Having lived in L.A. for many years, I can tell you what is ahead: Chain-link fences around that display of gardening supplies, signs warning us that if we don’t wash our hands we may get sick, more signs to tell us that driving too fast on a blind curve may result in a collision and higher prices and taxes to pay for it all.

In California, they used to cover responsibility in driver’s education. That was probably before driver’s education funds were cut in favor of spending more on guardrails.