On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 13:28:45 +0100, Jeff York was popularly supposed to have said:
Safespeed is essentially a much more elitist organisation than any of the other motoring organisations; they are arguing that only persons known to be safe drivers and who can be shown to have good eyesight, reasonable intelligence etc. should be allowed to drive.
Essentially, the Ministry of Transport statistics tacitly back them up; the bulk of road traffic accidents seem to be caused by stupidity on the part of one or more of the persons involved in the accident; this or impairment by tiredness or poor eyesight, drugs, alcohol etc, with poor vehicle maintenence being a minor contributer to the problem.
Speeding does not actually directly cause very many accidents; a mere 15% being the figure quoted.
Speed cameras are only a reasonable response to road accidents if the bulk of the accidents are those which speeding causes or exacerbates, and many times the accidents can better be prevented by reengineering the road at that point to make it safer.
Putting speed cameras onto roads where there have been accidents of any sort is as reasonable a measure as giving everyone with ANY medical problem whatsoever a couple of aspirin and expecting a cure; it'll work a small amount of the time, do nothing much of the time and worsen things some of the time.
Increasing the number of traffic officers in a set ratio with the amount of traffic is a much, much better idea. A visible police presence deters criminals, encourages law-abiding, and prevents a very great deal of trouble. Plus, of course, traffic officers can do lots of jobs, whereas speed cameras are good at only one thing.
-- By caffeine alone I set my mind in motion, By the beans of Java do thoughts acquire speed, hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning, By caffeine alone do I set my mind in motion
