Monday, 10 October 2011

Positive discrimination for the reckless

There is a stretch of road I find very distracting. There are a few miles of speed cameras and varying speed limits.

I find speed cameras to be like the ruby eye in King Solomon's Mines, and when I see one I doubly make sure that I am within the speed limit. This is a distraction.

The bigger distraction comes from the fact that the speed limit signs are not easily visible around the camera areas. I think the back of a forward facing camera should display a speed limit on the rear which faces the driver.

Such camera deployments cause me to alter my priorities and to take abnormal action in order to avoid, at any cost, a fine or points on my license.

While such distraction and such abnormal action may be dangerous to some drivers, the effect of the cameras and hard to spot speed limit signs might cause reckless drivers to slow down.

So I wonder if the overall consequence is a decrease in accidents among reckless drivers and an increase among the less reckless drivers - a sort of positive discrimination. To make it fair.

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