Too Many Laws
Helmet laws and medicine safety caps could follow the adage “good intentions, bad results” because people make certain assumptions about safety when they see someone wearing a helmet. They think, as John Stossel (2009) shows in the video, that a cyclist wearing a helmet knows what he is doing. Drivers think they do not have to be as mindful of the cyclist, if he has on all the cycling gear: clearly, he is experienced. These kind of assumptions are wrong and dangerous. Requiring people to wear helmets when they cycle or assuming that medicine is safely stored in a bottle with a safety cap can lead to bad results in this manner.
The potential unintended consequences of installing a traffic signal at an intersection in a school zone are numerous: (a) it could irritate drivers who are used to a regular flow of traffic at that intersection, and the light could hinder that flow and cause back-ups on the road, making drivers have to re-route or deal with congestion; (b) drivers who are irritated by the signal could be more likely to try to beat the light and push through the intersection at even higher speeds, often running yellow or even red lights at dangerously high velocity; (c) child waiting to cross the intersection may be at a greater risk of being struck because drivers are trying to outpace the traffic signal. For these reasons, I would make the case that the traffic signal in the school zone is not a good idea. Instead, there should simply be a crossing guard on duty during the hour when school is letting out to assist the children in crossing the street. Drivers would be aware that at that hour they are likely to be stopped by the crossing guard, but they are more likely to be okay with this hindrance to the flow of traffic at this time because it is not all day long and the reason is obvious.
References
Stossel, J. (2009). Unintended Consequences. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuZOAiga_9A&feature=youtu.be
