Police have announced they have saved 20% more lives by cracking down on speeding. This figure is based on a comparison from last years death toll.
I wouldn't mind more analysis than a one-to-one correlation.
What were the figures the year before?
Well, 10, which were the "worst figures in 13 years". So that could be an aberration, rather than the norm.
What were the figures the year before that?
Three. See what I mean?
So what were the driving conditions like last year?
Quote: "Bad weather appeared a likely culprit in a number of crashes as the cold snap kept its grip on the country. "Obviously the weather may be a factor in some. We've had a number of single vehicle loss of control-type collisions," he told NZPA. "
In 2009, were there any particular single crashes taking multiple lives?
Quote: "In Waikato four people died after a head-on crash on Saturday."
Were there any accidents involving pedestrians?
Quote: "A pedestrian and a truck driver were killed in a crash on State Highway 1 at Ohakea on Sunday."
There are many factors that drive the road toll, and the police's assurance it's all down to speed is not the full story, even though it is a factor. We could end the death toll overnight if the speed limit was 30kph. However, ticketing thousands of motorists to convince the few mad ones to drive to the conditions is the sledge hammer approach that has the pleasant side effect of raising vast amounts of revenue.
There's no argument that we have speed limits for a reason, and they need to be respected. However, overly pedantic enforcement of the limits whilst far too many bad and inconsiderate drivers get away with tailgating, or slow drivers holding up traffic for kilometers because they refuse to pull over to let other drivers stick to the limit needs to get more visibility in the public's eye before we blithely accept thousands of tickets for these suspect statistics.
80/20 rule - 80 percent more tickets result in 20% fewer crashes??
I wouldn't mind more analysis than a one-to-one correlation.
What were the figures the year before?
Well, 10, which were the "worst figures in 13 years". So that could be an aberration, rather than the norm.
What were the figures the year before that?
Three. See what I mean?
So what were the driving conditions like last year?
Quote: "Bad weather appeared a likely culprit in a number of crashes as the cold snap kept its grip on the country. "Obviously the weather may be a factor in some. We've had a number of single vehicle loss of control-type collisions," he told NZPA. "
In 2009, were there any particular single crashes taking multiple lives?
Quote: "In Waikato four people died after a head-on crash on Saturday."
Were there any accidents involving pedestrians?
Quote: "A pedestrian and a truck driver were killed in a crash on State Highway 1 at Ohakea on Sunday."
There are many factors that drive the road toll, and the police's assurance it's all down to speed is not the full story, even though it is a factor. We could end the death toll overnight if the speed limit was 30kph. However, ticketing thousands of motorists to convince the few mad ones to drive to the conditions is the sledge hammer approach that has the pleasant side effect of raising vast amounts of revenue.
There's no argument that we have speed limits for a reason, and they need to be respected. However, overly pedantic enforcement of the limits whilst far too many bad and inconsiderate drivers get away with tailgating, or slow drivers holding up traffic for kilometers because they refuse to pull over to let other drivers stick to the limit needs to get more visibility in the public's eye before we blithely accept thousands of tickets for these suspect statistics.
80/20 rule - 80 percent more tickets result in 20% fewer crashes??