Consider the Full Consequences

“It’s a mandate that doesn’t consider the full consequences.

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A recent issue of Bicycling Magazine addressed the move among some major cities to remove the “Right turn on Red” exception to intersection rules.
“Concerned that cars idling at stop lights could compound an energy crisis… The U.S. government warned states in the 1970s that they could risk some federal funding should cities prohibit right on red, except in specific, clearly marked areas. Although another energy-conscious provision capping speed limits at 55 mph has long been abandoned, right on red has endured.”
While the policy addressed one problem, it created another (some might say more serious) problem. Drivers are tempted to only look left to determine if traffic is clear. But bicyclist often travel in lanes to the right. The result is numerous injuries and fatalities.
 
Bill Schultheiss, director of engineering at Toole Design Group, which consults with public transportation agencies. “It made sense in the context of the gas crisis, but it was way oversold on what it would achieve. It’s a mandate that doesn’t consider the full consequences.”
 
This is just one example of how that our efforts to do good end in creating bad outcomes. It is just one small example of how our attempts to create utopia here will end in failure and frustration. In an imperfect world, when you make a rule to address a problem you create another.

Key Texts

Romans 8:22 (ESV):
“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”
 
1 Corinthians 3:19 (ESV):
“For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness.’
 
Hebrews 11:16 (ESV):
“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

Key Topics

utopia, government, heaven, imperfect world, secularism

Source

AP, U.S. cities consider banning “right on red” laws amid rise in pedestrian deaths, Bicycling, November 2023.

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