Education not enforcement; context not numbers

Stricter enforcement is on the cards for certain motoring offences, particularly driving fast (story here). Ironically, “Drivers who drive faster than average have the lowest accident rates yet they are the primary target of speed enforcement,” writes US researcher, Chad Dornsife, of the BHSPI (Best Highway Safety Practices Institute). At the risk of repetition, who is the better judge of appropriate speed – you and me at the time and the place, or limits fixed by absent regulators? Supporters of driving by numbers would claim that driving according to context is a licence to drive carelessly. No, it’s a blueprint for driving with true care and attention. On busy streets when vulnerable road-users, especially children are around, let us proceed at walking pace. On the open road, let us choose our own speed based on social context. Change the law to make drivers automatically liable for accidents with a vulnerable road-user unless they can prove a reckless act. Re-design streets and roads to express a social context. Expand and strengthen the first driving test. Re-educate middle-lane blockers who waste half our motorway capacity and indirectly cause pile-ups.