Freeway To Serfdom points out a sickening aspect to the recent street-racing deaths in Vancouver. He first quotes a G&M report on the deaths:

RCMP said witnesses report seeing two cars speeding east along Lougheed Highway at about 10 p.m. when one car, a Honda Del Sol with two young men in the front seat, lost control and swerved into the westbound lane. The men, 23 and 24 years old, from Mission, B.C., were killed. Police have not released their names.

Their Honda plowed into a Ford station wagon, killing a 45-year-old woman. The impact appeared to have caused a chain reaction when two other cars, a Plymouth Sundance and a BMW, crashed into the pile-up.

Let me quote TFTS’ conclusion:

You want to know the real tragedy here? I’d bet good money the 45 year old innocent victim was paying higher premiums in order to subsidize the 23 and 24 year old jackasses who killed her, thanks to BC’s commie “Social Pricing” monopoly insurance system.

Jay is right. A market insurance system would have charged the young murderers significantly higher premiums than their 45 year old victim. Honestly, though, do you really think that would have kept them off the road? Street racers in BC are almost all wealthy young men, a large proportion of whom with vast sums of family money to burn. They spend $8000 to $15000 on a car, then spend the same amount modifying it into some ridiculous projectile. Do you really think spending a few G’s on insurance is going to get in their way? I don’t know. Maybe. Frankly I doubt it. We’re talking about the intractable stupidity of youth. I don’t know what the solution is here. Probably market pricing is part of it, as is vicious intemperate prison sentences for those who are stupid enough to be caught.

Maybe what we need is a National Car Registry… yeah! That’s it! If only there were some way of tracking who owns a car, and of limiting those allowed to actually drive one… that would do the trick.

NB. I understand there is always a risk, in offering sarcastic suggestions to Lefties, that they will think it’s a good idea. For this reason, I never respond to anti-smoking zealots with “oh yeah? What are you going to ban next, hamburgers?” Because, you know, the answer is probably “yes”.