Monday, May 5, 2014

MONDAY MURMURINGS

One of the articles on the front page of today's "Western Australian" was to the effect that 2400 drivers are caught speeding here every day, many of whom are doing more than 10/kmh above the speed limit while some may exceed it by up to 50/kmh above the limit.  While 10/kmh doesn't sound a great deal over the limit, it certainly is if the speed limit on that particular road is 100/kmh or in some cases 110/kmh.

Our speed limits in Perth are 40/kmh past schools morning and afternoon; 50/kmh in built up suburban streets; 60/kmh in other suburban areas; 70 or 80 or 90/kmh on main roads and usually 100 or 110/kmh on country roads.  (In miles per hour that is approximately 25, 31, 37, 43, 50, 56, 63 and so on.)

I have noticed over past months/years that there are a lot of single car crashes, particularly of a car crashing into a tree or occasionally a telegraph pole, or even a house.    Surely the majority of those crashes would be caused by a car being driven far too fast or driver inattention.

Neither Phil nor I in our years of driving have ever been pulled over for speeding and the only time Phil received a ticket was many years ago when late at night he had gone through a red light.  It was one of those double intersections where there are two sets of traffic lights and if you happened to be looking at the wrong one and it was green you could quite easily continue driving.  My daughter also did that once years ago at an intersection near our home where another set of lights just up the hill was green.   I think these days they have managed to change the type of traffic light so that is less likely to happen.

Getting back to the question of speed on the roads.  Of course most cars are capable of doing speeds much higher than any allowed even on our big highways.  In a way this is a good thing as it means cars have the ability to accelerate when necessary to perhaps avoid a collision so we can't argue about that.  I was always confident that my 2 litre Ford Escort could accelerate well if needed but even then one must always take into account the car could fail for some reason so best not to take chances in the first place.  I always maintained the speed limit wherever possible as I consider that drivers that drive below the existing speed limit can also be a danger to others as well as themselves.

Why are people speeding more than they did?  I have heard say and read as well, that many people are becoming more arrogant these days ... selfish and thoughtless ... and I think unfortunately this may be true.   I feel, for some reason, there is more pressure on folk these days and it is becoming more of a rat race than it has ever been before and so people are more worried about number one and less likely to consider the feelings or needs or others.

Recently it was decided drivers caught using mobile (cell) phones while driving a car would lose 6 demerit points and I think this was an excellent idea and feel it should perhaps be kept in force until people learn that it is against the law.  I've even seen drivers of huge semi-trailers driving one-handed with their phones pressed to their ear and if that is not asking for trouble I don't know what is.

We are nearly all taught at an early age that we should obey the law and also not to do anything that is an annoyance to others.  In other words, "behave yourself and don't be naughty"!!   The majority of people do not commit assault, burglary etc., etc., and yet those same people think nothing of exceeding the speed limit or using their mobile phones while driving and yet by doing those things they are still breaking the law and endangering themselves and others.  They even become exceedingly annoyed should they be stopped by a traffic policeman and feel they are being targeted.  If they were doing the right thing in the first place they wouldn't have been pulled over; it is as simple as that.  Don't break the law.

I have no idea what the answer is.  It would seem once a person gets behind the wheel of their car they think they are sacrosanct and have no need to answer to a higher authority.  Why?  I only know whereas I once enjoyed driving, or being driven, there is no joy in it now as one is nearly always aware that some idiot out there is going to do the wrong thing and not give a damn about other people on the road, or themselves for that matter.

14 comments:

  1. Hear, hear.
    I am frequently frightened - even around town. And can see no reason for speeding 99 per cent of the time. I have so often watched people whizz past, and then we have caught up with them by the next traffic lights... So did they save any time? Probably not.

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    1. I felt you may agree with me EC. It is frightening out there and you're not even sure if you are save on the footpaths any more.
      We to have often noticed that the car that sped past is waiting at the next set of lights. They probably used more fuel and brake linings as well. Not much sense at all.

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  2. It's frightening out on the roads, people are so arrogant it's all about me me and me. Education is clearly needed, I don't know that increasing fines will work as they just don't pay them xxx

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    1. You've said it in one Rae on all counts. Why is it people seem to change from decent human beings into monsters when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle. I am convinced they really do. xx

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  3. speeding? Let me tell you about speeding. Last night on TV I heard a story, and an interview with the young woman concerned, about her driving problems.
    Only 21, she has many, many speeding tickets, fines, and fines for talking or texting with her mobile phone while driving. Recently, she hit a man on a bicycle, and drove off leaving him on the side of the road with a broken back. Now she is trying to sue him for damage to her car. She is blaming the cyclist for hitting her car! she doesn't care about him and said so in her interview, she cares more about the damage to her "expensive car" (her words). She was followed by a TV crew with a camera one day and in a 21 minute stretch of driving was found to have made 44 text messages and a couple of calls on her phone, almost never looking at the road. I listened as she told the interviewer that she didn't care about the injured man and how he shouldn't have ran into her car.
    The arrogance just gob-smacked me.
    Why does this young woman still have her licence??
    it is scary out on the roads, traffic moves so much more quickly than when I was young and there are so many more cars and trucks now too. I remember sitting at a bus stop one Sunday for almost half an hour waiting for my bus and there wasn't a single minute of clear road, just car after car after car....on Sundays when I was young I could count the cars on the fingers of one hand.

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    1. The story you tell about that young woman really takes the cake doesn't it. She's 21 and gives not a damn about anyone other than herself. I am not one to wish people ill but I hope she gets her comeuppance one way or another. She doesn't deserve to be free to do as she wishes.
      I remember when Karen and family first moved up to Kelmscott we'd travel the 20 odd kms to their place and hardly see a vehicle. That was 37 years ago and now on that same road it is bumper to bumper most of the time. There are so many new suburbs in Perth both north and south of the river and with each new home there is usually at least 2 cars and more if there are teenagers there too. Our roads become gridlocked at peak times now. Public transport needs to be better to try and get cars off the road but it seems it all costs too much and by the time something is completed it is out of date.

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  4. PS, my mum used to say, go a little slower, better to arrive a little late than not at all. Even leave home a bit earlier so you have enough travel time without needing to speed.

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    1. Your mum certainly knew what she was talking about. What's the old adage? "More haste less speed." I can remember my mum saying that and it's very true.

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  5. It is scary out there. I have to do all the driving now and I absolutely detest it.

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    1. I don't drive now Delores 'cos my arthritis worries me in case of an emergency. I used to love to drive but there's no fun in it now. Phil, at 84, is still driving carefully but keeps to the speed limit in order not to hold people up but he will not speed. I still have my licence in case of an emergency and am sure I'd cope OK if I didn't have miles to go.

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  6. Every time anybody gets into a car and drives they not only have their own lives to consider but the lives of others in cars. You are right Mimsie, these days one has to be super vigilant and on the look out for potential problems and generally speaking drivers are going faster these days and I believe its for two reasons - one being the punishment for speeding is not severe enough to act as a deterrent and two, people seem to always be in a rush, rush, rush.

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    1. Life, with all its mod cons, seems so much more hectic these days. People always on the run and it shows in their driving. A normal person gets behind the wheel and whoosh, they become someone else.
      Fines don't seem to be the answer as they don't pay them and the penalty for not doing so isn't steep enough. I think more cars should be impounded and too bad if it's inconvenient. It's also inconvenient for the person that driver may put in hospital for months, or worse still the person that is killed.

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  7. Hari OM
    As a driver I chose not to own a vehicle in Sydney because public transport just made more sense. It hasn't stopped me thinking like a driver though and now back in UK, I may eventually succumb to car ownership. However, I noticed a distinct increase in traffic since I had left here and note that parking is a major issue.

    As is speeding. I noticed something when driving my father's and my friend's cars recently... modern vehicles are so responsive one is at the speed limit without even feeling acceleration. The old banger I had owned 25 years ago was a snail in comparison. I am not a speeder, but if I buy a car I need to be aware that IT will be!

    I am also conscious of seeing friends and family driving with lots of distractions - be it radio, blue tooth talking equipments or simply going off into gaga-land. When the car is almost doing the driving for the driver, what is the need for paying attention? (Tongue in cheek question, don't bother answering that!!!)

    The trouble with the laws regarding phone use in particular whilst driving, is how to police that. Perhaps these modern vehicles can just refuse to switch on till the call unit is switched off...

    YAM xx

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    1. I read all your comments with much interest and they all make so much sense. Yes, modern vehicles do almost (seem) drive themselves but today I think drives have many more distractions. I look on a car as a means of getting from A to B and you enjoy whatever you want to do when you reach your destination, and not en route.
      It think your suggestion about a car not being able to start while a phone is in use an excellent one, one perhaps passing on to those in the know. xx

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