Opting out of silly laws

The Sunriver Service District says it was the Sunriver Owners Association's idea, and the HOA responds that the District is being coy, but whoever came up with the scheme, it's brilliant. In this little community south of Bend, Oregon, where the roads are privately owned, police are not allowed to enforce minor traffic laws.

Sgt. P.J. Beaty watches people in this upscale development breaking traffic laws, and sees plenty of them. But he can't pull them over. A man swerved head-on into Beaty's lane, and then back out again and Beaty couldn't lay a glove on him.

For years, he and the department's 10 other sworn officers could have pulled him over.

But the Sunriver Service District, which governs police and fire departments, voted in February to tell officers to make Sunriver's roads, which are private but open to the public, exempt from minor vehicle infractions.

The authorities are full of warnings about what might happen with the law's hands tied as they are, but, so far, little if any harm has resulted.

This would be a nice experiment to try in more communities around the country.