8/3/2019 Automotive Liberties Over Perceived Safety

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“Been drivin’ all night; my hands white on the wheel…

Well, it’s half-past three and I’m shiftin’ gears.”

Golden Earring – Radar Love

How can a state reconcile a popular culture that promotes speed and recklessness with

civic responsibility? The traditional way states have addressed the problem of highway

deaths is to impose a general purpose speed limit that is applied for all forms of high

speed interregional road travel. These forms include autoroutes, highways, freeways,

turnpikes and toll routes where the law abiding citizen never exceeds 100 km/h in a

vehicle that is designed by its manufacturer to perform well beyond. This is unfortunate

considering that many of these roads are engineered to safely allow for a vehicle to travel

at much higher rates of speed. Applying a universal speed limit is a poor (bloody) band-

aid in addressing the true problem of deaths on our highways. I use the term highway to

encompass the various forms of high speed road travel mentioned above. Invariably,

speed is an issue in many collisions; however, it is never the sole ingredient. I will show

that the true causes of highway deaths are carelessness, incompetence and fatigue; not

speeding. This will be done by exploring differing realities prevalent in Europe, the

United States and Canada. I will examine Coroner’s Reports, highway designs,

government propaganda and public misinformation.

The question my paper will attempt to answer is:

What are the true causes of death on our highways?

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“Gripping the wheel, his knuckles went white with desire.

The wheels of his Mustang squealing across the highway like a slug from a .45.

True Death: 400 horsepower of maximum performance; piercing the night.

This is Black Sunshine.” White Zombie – Black Sunshine

 Not many people enjoy driving along the 401. Simply by increasing the driving speed by

20 kilometres an hour, we can return from Toronto to Montréal an hour earlier. And that

is a good thing. By looking at the American experience and waiting until enough

empirical data becomes available to build proper statistics and understanding the

European’s sense of social responsibility, I come to the conclusion that there is hope for 

Canadians. It is only by having the courage to ask ourselves whether we are looking in

the right places do we end up finding practical, safe and educated solutions to reducing

the number of tragedies on our highways. If everyone were to drive in a responsible

manner, we would have no need for universally applied speed limits. If your cellular 

 phone rings, pull over and answer, let the caller leave a message, or use a hands-free kit.

If you feel that the street is your NASCAR circuit, get a gaming console and play a

driving simulator or take it to a private track. If you are tired, pull over and take a nap.

By taking these simple solutions and applying them, I guarantee that the number deaths

 per kilometre will drop. I agree that there is a need for sporadic local limitations to warn

motorists about specific areas that may require extra caution. It would be interesting to

see the relationship between the emergence of a new problem, road rage, which I have

not addressed, and interurban travel compared to urban travel.