He is currently moderating focus groups as part of a red light running study for the North Carolina Governor's Highway Safety Program. I was asked by the Southern District to speak at the 1999 annual meeting in Montgomery, Alabama regarding North Carolina's reasons for opposing the certification of PEs . This article builds upon the ideas discussed in that presentation. I contend, and based on several conversations many of you contend, that these assumptions are clearly untrue, and I will demonstrate this in the paragraphs that follow. No opposing articles were printed, despite resolutions against certification in both Alabama and North Carolina.
Certification is indeed a classic example of a solution in search of a problem.
A supporter of certification must demonstrate how a voluntary , multiple choice exam with no legal protections can possibly provide any substantive prevention of incompetence. Certification of PEs is not needed. Again, certification is simply a solution in search of a problem. And if certification were needed, it wouldn't be like this Of course, even if the certification program were mandatory, we would still oppose it, because it tests the wrong things. The artistry in traffic engineering includes the ability to make travel forecasts with sketchy data and a wealth of experience.