This one’s easy – a quick consult to Snopes.com sets us straight. First, the email, even with formatting retained:
The City of Dallas, Texas passed an ordinance stating that
if a driver is pulled over by law enforcement and is not able to provide
proof of insurance, the car is towed
To retrieve the car after being impounded,
they must show proof of insurance to have the car released.
This has made it easy for the City of Dallas to remove uninsured cars.
Shortly after the “No Insurance” ordinance was passed,
the Dallas impound lots began to fill up and were full after only nine days.
Over 80%of the impounded cars were driven by illegals.
Now, not only must they provide proof of insurance to have their car released,
they have to pay for the cost of the tow,a $350 fine,
and$20for every day their car is kept in the lot.
Guess what?
Accident rates have gone down 47%
and Dallas ‘ solution gets uninsured driversoff the roadWITHOUT
making them show proof of nationality.
I wonder how the
US Justice Department will get around this one .
* * * *
Just brings tears to your eyes doesn’t it? **
*** GO Dallas ***
Sadly for the author, only the law claim is true.
 |
TRUE: Dallas police may impound vehicles whose drivers fail to provide proof of insurance. |
 |
FALSE: Dallas impound lots were full nine days after this crackdown began. |
|
FALSE: More than 80% of those impounded cars were driven by illegal immigrants. |
|
FALSE: Accident rates have gone down 47% since implementation of this ordinance. |
So let’s spend a moment – no more – taking this apart. The purpose? To spur anti-immigrant sentiment – after all, there’s all those illegal immigrants’ cars, 80% of the total, and the lots are full, and, and, and … ooops, I think our xenophobe just ran out of air and collapsed. So, to finish his lie, we’ll repeat his claim that accident rates have gone down 47%.
So this is why 101 Americans die every day on the roads[1]! Everything makes sense now!
The slightly less obvious point is the usual right-wing anti-government hip-check – “I wonder how the US Justice Department will get around this one,” he says. Spur the cynicism, harvest the embittered voters for the right-wing fringe. Yep, how many did we get this time?
The lesson here? If something comes in without credible citations, maybe do a bit of research. Snopes.com, despite the disdain of the far-right, remains one of the best secondary sources to consult, but there are a few others out there. If you have the time and, when needed, the chops, you could even go for the primary sources – in this case, confirm such a law exists in Dallas, then check the local newspapers and police departments to see if the follow-on claims are also true.
Or you can remain credulous, and when the harvest comes, they’ll take your least valued, yet most important possession from you – your vote.
