Thoreau’s essay on Civil Disobedience has prodded generations of dissidents to societal action. But how about “Civil Obedience” as a radical concept?
Nose around the ‘net and you’ll find plenty of stories of people pulled over by police for “driving too slowly” when what they were really doing was exercising their legal prerogative to save gas and lower stress by observing posted speed limits. Police quoted actually say they are “suspicious” of drivers who obey the speed laws.
So here’s an incendiary idea.
A dozen or more DTL Members gather in a major metro area at an appointed time. Each brings a car; a few double up so they can drive in carpool lanes.
En masse they enter a local freeway and spread out into a bunched convoy covering all lanes. Once in place, they slow down to the posted speed limit and stay there.
All the traffic behind them naturally slows down too; a gap opens in front of them as “normal” drivers speed away from the pack.
The large number of blockaders insures that road ragers “trapped” behind the convoy don’t take it out on any one member. The blockading convoy circles a beltway or local freeway route for as long as members are willing and available.
This is citizen enforcement of the law, and in a major metro area on a busy day could result in slowing down tens of thousands of drivers to the posted limits, resulting in savings of thousands of gallons of gas.
Ideally, local news is notified of the event and news chopper footage of the convoy gets on the evening broadcasts. Members give interviews on the event. We might also wish to seek legal advice, then notify local police or highway patrol about the blocking convoy ahead of time – daring them to cite us for obeying the law.
Change Your Driving Habits. Change the World.
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