Post by joe parkinIf we spent more time in educating our children with regard to road
safety and monitor them when they are on a main road accidents may
reduce in number if not in severity.
I resent this move to throw the responsibility onto the pedestrian,
particularly the younger ones. Driving safely is the /drivers'/
responsibility.
OK, so you specified "main" roads, but really we've stolen the side
streets from pedestrians and kids in particular. I used to play in the
street and cars used to slow down till we'd clear out of the way. These
days they just weave in and out of the kids 'cos they can't be bothered
to wait. It's like these twits who say they're all infavour of speed
cameras but "Why don't they put them near schools?" - so only kids get
run over? And only near schools? Wake up, all sorts of people get
injured by road traffic in all sorts of situations.
Luckily we moved (deliberately) to a road where car speeds are very low
(and about to become lower still by design) and where kids can roam free
well away from cars as well. We moved away from a "quiet" side street in
Hounslow where despite there only just room to squeeze a fire engine
down the road cars still tried to do 30mph from time to time.
Where most of this argument about speed falls down is it becomes a
slanging match between those in favour of draconian anti-speeding
measures and those who resent them. In reality, the sensible course
probably lies somewhere in between. Speed limits are a very blunt tool
for regulating road safety, but none of the others work terribly well.
"Educate drivers better" is often heard. Take it from me, I spent five
years educating drivers in cars then another four in minibuses and many
of 'em are resistant to instruction about the dangers of /inappropriate/
speed. It's not just young drivers who can't get it into their heads
that 30mph may be suitable for some roads with a 30mph limit and not for
others.
Similarly, some seek to blame drivers for all accidents. This is
obviously a fallacy as well. A young lad was splatted a few hundred
yards from here recently. He and some friends had been playing chicken
with the traffic, but he got the short straw and didn't make it across
in time. OK, so /some/ of the local kids may have learned this lesson,
but there will still be thousands playing chicken all across the country
even as I type.
What it all boils down to is that most vehicle incidents are caused by
drivers, a few are caused by pedestrians and other road users and a very
few are caused by mechanical faults. Though excessive speed may not have
been the /cause/ of these, it's largely true that a lower speed would
have reduced the severity of the outcome.[1] This is another area where
the argument gets bogged down by people who insist "Speed causes
accidents" or "Speed doesn't cause accidents". What would really cut
accidents is drivers paying a lot more attention to what's going on and
the potential risks involved in driving in a particular way at a
particular time. Unfortunately, many drivers do not have the skills or
the imagination to understand what /may/ or /can/ go wrong and how to
avoid it.
Right, I'm off for a wallow under the shower to cool off.
[1] At this point, some smart arse always says "Oh, so we should all
drive everywhere at 5mph?" Clearly not, but nor should we driver
everywhere /at/ the speed limit, 'cos that's not sensible either. Where
the problems start is where drivers claim they can be trusted to judge a
safe speed for a particular set of circumstances...but in reality don't
have the skills to do so. Drivers don't like being told that they're not
terribly good drivers...it's even worse than teling them that they're
lousy in bed...but in many cases it's true. The Driving Test is fairly
simple, and there's no real incentive to improve later. And anyway, even
if you demonstrate to someone that you /can/ drive to a high standard,
there's no reason to believe that you /will/ drive to that standard all
the time or even at all.
--
Skipweasel:- There's an old proverb that says just about whatever you
want it to.
