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ebonypearl) wrote2009-07-31 07:33 am
Sanity
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wiltshire/8178347.stm
Go, Swindon! ‘’ "At the end of the day all these devices do is take pictures of people breaking the speed limit, they're not actually managing the speeds and they're not educating people." and "Because the amount of money we were putting into cameras wasn't delivering the results we required, we decided to make the focus road safety rather than enforcement," said Conservative councillor Peter Greenhalgh.
Go, Mr. Greenhalgh! It’s about time someone called it like it is. These devices cost far more than they are worth. This is not limited to the exorbitant financial expenditure; it includes the pitiful showing for improving road safety, reducing accidents, and reducing casualties. I agree that the money would be far better spent to improve road conditions and educating people on road and driving safety. Punitive devices lose their effectiveness after a while and are only a short-term solution. The response should not be to increase the punishment but to discover the cause of the infraction and address that.
I feel Swindon has taken the first step and I applaud their foresight and courage in doing so. I expect success in their endeavor, and may others quickly follow them.
We have descended too far into a punitive mindset and this is a glimmer of a change in that. Remember that old adage “You catch more flies with honey”? Well, you may swat a lot of flies with that flyswatter, but all that does is breed for faster, wilier flies. It doesn’t make them go away at all or teach them to stay out of the kitchen. But placing fly lures of sugar water teaches flies to expect good things in places other than the kitchen and voila! A fly-free kitchen.
Punishment doesn’t work near as well as a deterrent as making other activities more alluring. There’s another old adage “Idle hands make mischief” that speaks to the point. It’s not make-work that’s needed, either. We need to feel that the work we do means something, provides some benefit, is beautiful, useful, and/or profitable.
When it comes to road safety and speeding, well, I don’t feel speeding is such a be-all and end-all matter. If you read Driver’s manuals (and since I read one into an audiobook format for the sight-impaired, I read it in excruciating detail), speed limits are not meant to be immutable and unchanging, they are well-researched recommendations for the safest speed to traverse that section of road. Perhaps it’s a residential area with lots of children – the speed would naturally be slower than the road itself could bear because you have to pay attention to what’s happening off the road – often children playing or pets running around. Perhaps it’s a road with lots of traffic exiting and merging from driveways and parking lots – again, the posted speed would be slower than the road itself could bear. Perhaps there’s a well-known “dead man’s curve” ahead. Speed are not fixed speeds, nor are they there to “punish” people. Educating people to the real purpose of speed limits will help them control their driving better.
Ditto for other road hazards such as texting, eating, shaving, applying make-up, construction zones, and so on. Driving is a dangerous occupation and simply punishing people for breaking driving laws and regulations does no good if the people driving don’t understand the reasons behind the laws.
Swindon has recognized this and is diverting their money from surveillance and punishment to education and better road surfaces. I sincerely hope the results are as decent as I expect them to be. May other cities and nations follow the sanity of this move.
no subject