In article , Terry and Tracey <foxcroft@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes
Everywhere in Australia is like that. No seatbelt you will get a ticket.
Even if you put it on by the time the cops pull you over, you get the
ticket.
But our road deaths are down because of it (and random breath testing).
Are ALL road deaths down, or just car occupant deaths?
Here in the UK, when seat belt wearing became compulsory for front seat
occupants, late 70s (?), the number of pedestrian and cyclist deaths
significantly increased. Apparently the effect of the belt was to make
the driver feel more secure and hence many unconsciously drove closer to
the limits of their ability.
That particular statistic, although receiving moderate publicity at the
time, was swiftly buried. Too many "safety" measures only shift the
danger from one group to another rather than remove the danger entirely.
Such deceptive safety campaigns are very much on my mind as I write
this, for good reason.
Just over a year ago the speed limit on the main road into the town
where I live was reduced from 40mph to 30mph and enforced by a radar
operated speed trap camera. There has never been a pedestrian-vehicle
accident on this stretch of road in the 20 years I have lived here, but
some locals complained that the traffic was too fast so the speed
reduction was hailed as a safety measure. Last night, within 50 yards
of the speed trap, an eight year old child was killed and her mother
seriously injured whilst crossing the road. :-(
It remains to be seen if the driver of the vehicle was distracted, to
check his speed was within the revised limit as he passed the so called
"safety camera" - a common natural reaction that most drivers make. Even
so, had the higher speed limit still been in force, the mother and child
would probably have not been crossing there at all and would have walked
the extra 100yds to a footbridge.
Sadly, this is not an isolated freak occurrence and I have heard of
other similar cases.
--
Kennedy
Yes, Socrates himself is particularly missed;
A lovely little thinker, but a bugger when he's pissed.
Python Philosophers
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