Moderator note: split from Croydon tram crash thread
Here's where there's been a huge problem with cameras replacing a lot of the work of police officers, as I am sure drink driving (or drug driving) is increasing, and certainly drug driving seems to be a problem with younger motorists. Of course there wasn't really a way to test for drugs in the past, but I do think we're now forgetting that new generations don't know about the socially unacceptable stuff.
Our local police will no doubt do a sting in the next week and then publish stats to show how many people were caught under the influence. In previous years it's usually around 10%, which is staggering. If that many people fail roadside tests, why are they only doing a handful of stings per year?
Mobile phone usage is worse now than it was ten years ago. Despite the heaviest penalties ever, people are so addicted to their smartphones that they're willing to read messages and even reply whilst driving. It's about a billion times worse than holding a phone to chat, which in itself is dangerous, as you're not even looking at the road - let alone in control of the vehicle.
Speeding is always going to be an issue, but I'd be more fearful of someone under the influence or not even looking as more likely ways of being involved in an 'accident' either in another car, or as a pedestrian.
Conversely, if you do manage to change people's behaviour on the roads you save a large number of lives for relatively little cost. See for example how drink-driving these days is socially unacceptable to a large part of the population, whereas in the 1980s most people saw the sin as being caught for it. There would be another drop in road deaths if speeding or using a phone when driving became similarly unacceptable.
Here's where there's been a huge problem with cameras replacing a lot of the work of police officers, as I am sure drink driving (or drug driving) is increasing, and certainly drug driving seems to be a problem with younger motorists. Of course there wasn't really a way to test for drugs in the past, but I do think we're now forgetting that new generations don't know about the socially unacceptable stuff.
Our local police will no doubt do a sting in the next week and then publish stats to show how many people were caught under the influence. In previous years it's usually around 10%, which is staggering. If that many people fail roadside tests, why are they only doing a handful of stings per year?
Mobile phone usage is worse now than it was ten years ago. Despite the heaviest penalties ever, people are so addicted to their smartphones that they're willing to read messages and even reply whilst driving. It's about a billion times worse than holding a phone to chat, which in itself is dangerous, as you're not even looking at the road - let alone in control of the vehicle.
Speeding is always going to be an issue, but I'd be more fearful of someone under the influence or not even looking as more likely ways of being involved in an 'accident' either in another car, or as a pedestrian.
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