A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a lovely land with beautiful citizens and wonderful children. The area around their schools was posted with a 20 mph speed limit.
You can’t just drink too much craft beer without noticing what is happening.
One day a woman who had an excellent driving record, but who was distracted, ran through the school zone at about 35 mph. She killed a 6-year-old boy who chased his basketball across the street in front of her, because that’s what little boys do.
The town fathers were angry, so they banned all automobiles from the area around the school. Zero tolerance of cars is the answer, they said.
Things went well for a time, but the children soon started playing in the street and forgot all about how to deal with automobiles. One day a fellow who was talking on his cell phone, drinking coffee, and listening to his very loud radio, drove past the school at 50 mph. He killed five children. He was cited and fined only $300, since no drugs or alcohol were involved.
The city fathers were furious, so they passed a law demanding the death penalty on all who violated their zero tolerance policy by driving within the school zone. They issued a proclamation declaring:
“Zero Tolerance will continue until all tolerance is eliminated.” Everyone lived happily ever after for a while.
