Save us from bureaucratic gremlins with a 'rule-in, rule-out' law for everyone
By Robert Pembroke
The other day I went down to the state of Utah Driver License Division at the fairgrounds to renew my driver’s license and promptly proceeded to flunk the eye exam. The last time I renewed my driver’s license, I cannot remember having had my peripheral vision tested. This might be a new — and needed — regulation that the state has put into place. The very nice examiner then gave me document to take to my ophthalmologist to see if I had really lost my peripheral vision.
My ophthalmologist ran a whole bunch of tests — at great expense to me — and determined that my peripheral vision was excellent. So, I went back to the Driver License Division at the fairgrounds and walked out with a temporary driver’s license that I could put in my wallet.
After I received my temporary driver’s license, I asked to speak to the manager and a highly intelligent, very nice lady came out to the counter. I then proceeded to lodge a complaint about the experience I had with their vision testing machines and she said she would pass it up the line.
The state of Utah also got me again on this venture. When you turn into the entrance of the fairgrounds, there is a teeny, tiny curb right in the middle of the entrance. It’s approximately 24 inches wide and 6 inches high and blends in with the other white concrete around it. Yep, I hit it. While I was driving out of the fairgrounds, I noticed that I was not the only one to hit it because the curb had all sorts of black marks and there were gashes in the concrete.
I have a Type A personality, which leads me to be anxious most of the time. When I flunked my eye test and could not get in to see my ophthalmologist for two days, I was a basket case. All sorts of thoughts were spinning around in my head — especially the one where my son (part dog) wouldn’t love me anymore because I couldn’t take him on walks.
I do understand that drivers must have good peripheral vision in order to prevent accidents, but what I don’t understand is why the vision equipment that the Utah Driver License Division uses gives out false readings. My ophthalmologist had a machine that took about 10 minutes to fully map my peripheral vision. If each Driver License Division office had one of these to test for false readings, it would sure save the taxpayer a lot of time and money. And it would have reduced the amount of stress that I went through.
Enough about my difficulties. Let’s talk about what is going on with the middle class in this country. Government regulations, at all levels, are taking money out of the middle class’ pocket. Utah has done a good job at cleaning up the air that we breathe and making our water safe to drink but the state is not stopping there. All the new laws, rules and regulations about the environment cannot be cost-justified — or significantly improve the environment.
A great example of this are the storm water regulations. If you want to build a new house, you’re going to have to hire an environmental engineer to assess the property and recommend the various measures you must take to limit storm water runoff. I have been told that the cost of an environmental engineer, prevention bonds and various other measures you must take, might cost upwards of $80,000 on a seven-acre lot that isn’t even close to a stream or other waterway.
A good friend of mine had to spend a whole bunch of money on curbs and gutters around his junk yard, which is the middle of a desert. He told me that a much better use of the money would have been to give his 40-plus employees a raise.
Both Great Britain and Canada have implemented a “rule in, rule out” procedure when it comes to new regulations. Pres. Trump has mandated the same thing at the federal level but America governments — at all levels — should do the same.
Robert Pembroke is the former chairman and CEO of Pembroke’s Inc. in Salt Lake City. He can be reached at pembroke894@gmail.com.