Tuesday 24 June 2014

Politics: "Every K over is a killer!" Bullshit from the Nanny State to justify increasing revenue.

So.. "Every K over is a killer!" Do the politicians from all sides of politics really expect us to believe that crap? Increasing speeding fines, lowering tolerances for over speeding and then justifying it in the name of road safety?

Give us a break.

Utter rubbish.

Now before I get right into the nub of this, if you have lost a friend or loved one in a motor vehicle accident (I have) then my heart goes out to you. There is nothing worse.

But lowering speed limit tolerances and increasing fines won't stop testosterone fuelled young men from driving their high powered cars at over twice the speed limit early in the mornings with often tragic results. They will do it and continue to do it regardless of the law!

They always have and always will.

Consider these statistics from the QLD State Government's websites.

In 1970 there were only 726,000 motor vehicles on the road in QLD.

Also in 1970 there were 580 people who died in motor vehicle accidents.

That is a rate of  death of 80 per hundred thousand registrations.

People died of horrific injuries back then. Thrown through windscreens out of cars, impaled on steering columns, faces smashed into dashboards. Truly awful stuff.

So fast forward to 2013. Cars are now better engineered and built. Increased primary safety with things such as ABS controlled disc brakes, Dynamic Stability Control, Active Roll Mitigation, better wipers, better headlights and heating and demisting systems that were once options back in 1970. Then there is the secondary safety ... the things in your car that save you when it all goes pear shaped. Computer designed crumple zones, seat belts for all passengers, pretensioning devices for the front passenger seat belts, airbags in the front and curtain bags too for the rear seat passengers, side impact prevention systems etc. All designed to keep you from meeting your maker.


Take your pick ... Bel Air or Malibu?


And our roads are much better. Many of them are of world standard. I know this because I regularly drive on the autobahns of Germany and have driven on the highways of the USA.

But still the Nanny State lecture us about "every K over is a killer" and tell us to watch our speedometers all the time. The Europeans are a little enlightened.. they allow a tolerance of 10% because they know that there is a lot going on OUTSIDE of your car that you need to be on the ball about. They understand that you cannot keep looking down at your speedo.

So in light of the above.. what are the statistics for traffic accidents these days?

Well for 2013.. this is what we have.

In QLD there are 4,600,000 motor vehicles.

And in 2013 we had 272 people die on the roads.

So we have 6.3 times as many motor vehicles on the road, yet the number of people killed is less than half the number in 1970.

Or side by side:

1970 80 deaths per 100,000 vehicles.

2013 6 deaths per 100,000 vehicles.

The difference is the 1970 figure is more than 13 times higher than 2013 allowing for more cars etc.

The facts are that modern cars are faster and safer than they were even 10 years ago, and we have tightened the laws on drink driving too!

Yet we still get the "Every K over is a killer" thing.

Well I am calling it .. it's bullshit!

Now what brought this on was that the Government has just been doing an analysis of speed limits on roads that could/should be either increased, decreased or stay the same.

The results are just a complete waste of time and God only knows how much money.

You can read Mark Hinchcliffe's article about it here.

So why do governments all treat us like drongos  and cry on about the terrible road toll. There will always be people killed on the roads. Wherever humans operate machinery, people will die. Simply because we are humans and cannot be across every thing that happens in our environment while we are driving. Distractions do occur. And they can be fatal.

And stupid people in cars will always be stupid... regardless of the law.

But penalising dad doing 86 km/h in an 80 zone on the ICB is just stupid. Most of the traffic travels over the limit every day.. the government counts on it to generate revenue. But if every K over really was a killer, well there wouldn't be enough tow trucks to carry away the wreckage.

Why not just have 3 speed limits.

40 around schools, 60 in the suburbs and then 130 on the highway with the message.. "Drive to conditions" and trust the common sense of the motorist.

I guess the German's didn't get the EKOIAK memo!

I guess... it's all about the money.

And when they say "It's not about the money".. you can bet your bottom dollar it really is!

For once Government.. tell us the truth.. we can handle it!






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