76-04-A1
- Main Page \ Reagan Radio Commentaries \ 1976
| << Previous Broadcast | Next Broadcast >> |
Diamond Lanes[edit]
Transcript[edit]There are always plenty of government Goliaths ready to bully us into living the way they want us to. Fortunately, we still have a few freedom-loving Davids around to out them in their places. Here is a modern David-and-Goliath story that took place recently in Los Angeles, where I live and work. It is a classic example of how government can become an arrogant bully, and an equally classic example of how a few courageous citizens, armed with a knowledge of their rights, can put the bully to flight. Goliath in this case was the State of California, of which I used to be Governor. It seems that my successor doesn't like automobiles or freeways, so last March he closed two lanes, one each way, on the Los Angeles-to-Santa Monica Freeway. He had big diamond markings painted on those two lanes and decreed that during rush hours only buses and cars carrying three or more persons could operate in them. This 25 percent reduction in the carrying capacity of the state’s busiest freeway was designed to reduce gasoline consumption and air pollution, and thus to enhance the environment. But no one bothered to study the facts. People in Los Angeles who work close to each other don't often live close to each other, and the city is so spread out that it seems to take half a day to get anywhere by bus. So the program caused cars to jam the remaining lanes of the freeway and spill on to the adjacent surface streets. Accident rates, fuel consumption and air pollution all rose. Buses ran empty down the otherwise vacant diamond lanes. Ninety thousand free bus tickets were passed out; 315 were used. To demonstrate the absurdity of the program, enterprising youths stood at freeway entrances and offered themselves as instant carpools at one dollar a head. The people of Los Angeles organized protest groups. The City and County of Los Angeles pleaded with the State to end the program. But the State refused to listen. It knew better, and the people of Los Angeles would just have to learn to do what the State knew was right. Enter "David", a small, non-profit public interest law firm called the Pacific Legal Foundation. Its attorneys filed suit to end the Diamond Lane program because the State had not properly assessed the program's environmental impact. And, they proved they were right. In 11 days of carefully prepared and thoroughly documented testimony, they proved that the program had actually deteriorated, not enhanced the environment, and that the State, in its haste to impose its will had neglected to get the public input required by law for any such program. On August 9th the court issued a permanent injunction to stop the Diamond Lane program. Normal traffic resumed on the Santa Monica Freeway, and Goliath crawled back into his State Capital bureaucracy to nurse his wounds. But we who live in California are glad to know that the next time he comes out the Pacific Legal Foundation will be ready for him. You can fight City Hall... you can even fight the State House and that's good to know. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
Details[edit]
| |||||||||||
Added Notes[edit] |
