On 12/09/10 12:10, Robert Bronsdon wrote:
Do people speed past the school? What can be done to slow them down?
Bung a camera outside and send them a hefty fine?
Believe me, it works with at least some of the population - a friend was
caught by a camera, fined and had the option of attending a course or
accepting the points on his licence. He went for the former and it made
him think about the consequences of speeding, so it seems education has
a part to play as well as punishment for transgressions. He also learned
that the speed cameras in county he was caught in do not generate
revenue for the council, but fund road safety initiatives (no, not more
cameras), and as such felt he had been fairly treated. He would not have
attended that course voluntarily, despite the fact he is a bright,
decent bloke and generally favours a bike over his car for health and
ecological reasons. Now, extend that to the many lazy, poorly educated
people who think they are already excellent drivers and I think you can
see that all the right-on campaigns in the world are not going to
encourage them to slow down.
I take your point about surveillance society and people snooping on
their peers too, but I think there is a massive gap between any ideal
and what we currently have. To bridge that gap we would need to invest
massive amounts of money in policing and education, something very few
politicians are prepared to do, not least because tax payers would not
be prepared to accept the financial burden.
In the meantime, if people are tearing up and down the street where your
kids play and you can't get the police or council to take notice, I can
see a case for presenting evidence to them to encourage them to collect
their own evidence and then address the issue through the correct
channels, if indeed there is a case for it. I am certainly not
suggesting that vigilantes seek out the offenders and punish them on the
basis of evidence they have collected, dubious or otherwise.
Sean
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