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Why The Internet Is Great

311 is a good service, I use it often.

SeeClickFix.com is now my preferred portal to 311. Why? Because it allows me to interact with other users besides the government, and hold them to a higher standard than a civil servant would. For example, here's a driver that is complaining that the school zone on Southern Parkway is (gasp) half a mile long. Slowing down to 25mph from 35mph will cost him or her ... wait for it ... 20.6 seconds! So they filed a complaint with SeeClickFix that the school zone was too big, and that it should be contracted.

No one from government is going to tell this motorist they're assuming a car-centric vision of roads. But with SeeClickFix I don't need them to. I can do it myself. Here is my reply:

Yes, children do walk a half mile to school. It takes a staggering 10 minutes for them to do so. So slow down and give em' a break, because they don't have a perfect grasp of traffic law yet. Remember, you are a licensed driver, trained and responsible for the 2-ton piece of metal that you send hurtling through space at high velocity. Your responsibility is to drive carefully and anticipate errors on the part of other road users, especially our most vulnerable.

And I prefer SeeClickFix for other reasons as well. It lets you upload pictures and video, which are worth 1000 words. Also, there's less shenanigans where you have to fill out your blood type, date of birth, etc. It's short and to the point. Hooray!