Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Is Speed the Real Killer on the Roads

In many countries road safety policy is built around the belief that speed is the number one factor in road accidents and laws are made to rigidly enforce the limits mostly by means of speed cameras. Such rigid enforcement may reduce a driver's responsibility to choose a correct speed according to the circumstances.

A learner driver asked why the standard urban speed limit in the United Kingdom is 30 miles per hour. This is an interesting question. Rates of progress relate to stopping distances so a road with junctions, bends and other hazards less than 23 metres apart would need to have a rate of progress where a car could stop safely within that distance, namely 30 miles per hour. As a road moves away from built up areas and hazards become situated further apart the available stopping distance increases and so the speed limit can increase in accordance.

The trouble here is that a constant rate of progress does not take into account random factors in the driving situation. It is a fact that most accidents take place below the posted speed limit. Again driving skills are being eroded as it is the decision taken on a reasonable speed which is a skill whereas simply obeying a speed limit is not. Learner drivers will actively increase speed along a busy road with parked cars and pedestrian activity simply because the enforcement sign makes it legal. They do not yet have the skills required to decide for themselves what a safe speed is and there is definite danger in simply obeying signs. This is common even among qualified motorists. Learners need to be taught to make their own decisions based on what is in front of them to control the level of danger.

Good laws which reflect society's attitudes usually achieve a high level of voluntary compliance. Speed laws certainly do not. When a motorist is fined for breaking speed limit laws there is not so much a feeling of guilt about breaking the law, more a sense of being unfairly judged. They have not been judged on the danger level of the driving but on an arbitrary speed limit enforced by a camera. This does nothing to promote respect for motoring law nor to help drivers in their own ability to make a decision or sense of responsibility. There is a feeling of entrapment as cameras are placed where a motorist is most likely to break the limit and not where it would be most dangerous to break it.

Upon being caught for exceeding the posted limit a motorist is given the choice of paying a fine and taking points on their license or attending a speed awareness course. From an instructor's perspective the second option is the better yet attendance is regarded with embarrassment by drivers rather than being seen as a learning opportunity. This is a dangerous attitude as it shows a poor view of driver education and yet it is education and responsible free thinking drivers who will make the road safer, not just arbitrary speed limits.

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