Tag Archives: traffic regulation

Omnishambles

The OED defines Iannucci’s inspired word as “a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterised by a string of blunders and miscalculations”. How well it describes traffic management.

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Blame the children?

A half-heard news item on Today was about 11 year-olds immersed in their mobile phones being three times more likely (than 10 year-olds?) to be hit on the roads. No doubt the usual suspects will blame children’s lack of awareness. … Continue reading

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On the roads, self-interest = mutual interest

In banking and consumer affairs, regulation may be necessary, because self-interest is driven by profit. On the roads, regulation is counterproductive. Why? Because self-interest = the common interest. My interest in not hitting you mirrors your interest in not hitting … Continue reading

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Balls bowled

So Ed Balls is caught “speeding” (a fabricated crime if ever there was one). What beats me about incidents like this is the abject acceptance by intelligent people that they are wrong and speed limits are right. Never do they … Continue reading

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Chris Huhne

“Any element of tragedy was entirely your own fault,” said Mr Justice Sweeney. No. Huhne is the victim of an inflexible, black-and-white system that elevates the letter of the law above the spirit. Life is about infinite shades of grey. Context is … Continue reading

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Public service? Pull the other one

In devising methods of repressing hypothetical (minority) misbehaviour on our roads, the traffic control net is spread wide. Like the wrong fish caught in a trawler’s net, good people are ensnared and brought to their knees (you, me and Chris … Continue reading

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A question of justice

If Chris Huhne’s alleged act perverts the course of justice, does non-discretionary traffic regulation pervert the cause of justice?

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Historic connections

On Stephen Fry’s Radio 4 series about the history of mobile phones, a designer of HTC smartphones said he aimed to create devices that were “so simple that using them was almost innate”. It reminded me that traffic regulation seems bent … Continue reading

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Control or trust?

Supporters of speed cameras wonder why drivers can’t just observe the rules. We don’t object to just regulation, but as long as traffic policy is based on the unjust system of priority, it must be challenged. Commenting on electoral reform, … Continue reading

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