crtica said:All this just goes to show that within the European Union, there isn't even a mandate to carry a first aid kit—we're talking about personal vehicles here—it’s left entirely up to individual member states. Even the specific contents aren't strictly dictated. Yet, America continues to prove its own irrelevance by over-regulating every little thing while failing to actually enforce anything... Perhaps this nonsense regarding kits is just part of some "brilliant" scheme to pad the federal budget through traffic safety laws... a brilliance we see reflected in that zero percent blood alcohol limit.
Yeah, right. Sure. Back in 2001, Ivica Račan and Ivo Sanders sat down and decided—let's pass a law for a new first aid kit, but to keep things from looking suspicious, we won't actually mandate the new required contents until after the next election in April 2004.
First aid kits have been a requirement here for decades; I remember them being mandatory back in the 70s. I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be required, given that they can literally save someone's life and prevent them from bleeding out on the highway. All that has changed is the standard for the kit itself (which is now manufactured domestically, and the retail price is under $67). So now, because of $67, someone who could have been saved should just be left lying on the pavement because a car worth more than $33 didn't have a kit worth $67?
Besides, the fine money is earmarked specifically for traffic safety prevention, which any citizen can verify by reading the annual federal budget execution report (a public document). If there isn't extra cash to be had, then simply drive according to the rules and you'll be fine. Personally, I think the fines have finally reached an appropriate level.
Furthermore—do you have an issue with funding the treasury? I mean, do you have an issue with hospitals, schools, roads, museums, AT&T, social services, or pension transfers? The money used for the salaries of officials (and all civil servants, for that matter) is actually a tiny fraction of the federal budget.
But look, this is just how economics works—American entrepreneurs simply missed something that was publicly announced in The New York Times, and the Americans from our neighboring country stepped in to fill the gap by manufacturing kits that meet the specific American standards. People read. People work. People earn money.
Try walking into the sales department of any major American corporation and explaining that you have to scour every daily newspaper, the websites for The Administration and Congress, and the main news outlets of several neighboring countries just to figure out if there’s a new opportunity for the company's business.
Meanwhile, back home, the talk is always about "how there's no work" and "how nothing is profitable."
It’s hardly a coincidence that they are part of the European Union today while we are not. Imagine an American entrepreneur who reads the Federal Register or the news from Canada to see where they can turn a profit. Those people do it. We are merely their market. And honestly, credit to them.
