The “Speed Kills” mantra has been driven into our collective consciousness for at least a generation if not longer. Yet, road designers and car builders continue to create infrastructure and vehicles that enable us to go ever faster, while police and their radar traps tell us to slow down…a frustrating speedus interruptus designed to create easy cash for government coffers under the disguise of road safety. But lets face it, its a lot easier to sit by the side of the road with a radar gun catching people going over the speed limit than it is dealing with the real problem…driver and vehicle impairment. See, if speed really does kill, everyone in Germany should be dead by now! But they’re not, and in fact Germany has one of the lowest accident and death rates from car accidents in the world, despite very generous highway speed limits (40% fewer deaths per km driven than the USA).

What speed really does is that it acts as a catalyst. If you are impaired (not just by alcohol, BTW) and get into trouble, it will magnify the effect. If you would have hit the tree at 30 mph, you would have survived, but at 60 mph you’re most likely gonna die (and the poor slobs around you!). But it would have been far better not to hit the tree in the first place!!

When we speak of impaired driving we typically think alcohol and illicit drugs. But there are many types of impairment, divided into two general categories:

Transient Impairment:

• Talking on a cellphone while driving;
• Emotional turmoil due to immediate life events (wife announces she’s leaving you, boss fires you, etc.). I’ll never forget the well-dressed man in the luxury car stopped behind me at a red light…he was flinging his arms in the air and banging his head on the steering wheel – who knows what news he had just received?;
• Alcohol and illegal drugs (may also qualify as Chronic, see below);

Chronic Impairment:

• Low driving skill level due to poor training (many people still don’t go to driver’s ed for their training but learn from old Uncle Joe or some other relative). This is a biggie. Most people may know “how” to drive but many don’t know the “why” of driving, i.e. the underlying logic of the various rules.
• Physical disability due to age or medical condition (one of my friends has only one eye and it is full of cataracts, yet still has a license and drives!;
• Poorly maintained vehicles;
• Machismo, testosterone, and stupidity that results in reckless and aggressive driving. How many times have you said to yourself “where are the cops when you need them?” Well, where are they? Stopped by the roadside with a radar gun, that’s where!;
• Prescription medications;
• Chronic alcohol and illegal drug use.

I could go on, but I’ll let you think up a few on your own. The point is: Focusing on speed without dealing with the underlying impairments is like trying to solve the suicide problem by lining the sidewalks with mattresses so the people who jump off buildings will have a softer landing! But governments are addicted to the money that comes from controlling speed because its EASY! Tougher licensing requirements on the other hand would prevent people from buying cars (Heaven forbid we should slow down the economy) or worse…place a burden on the crappy public transit system that needs billions of dollars to become truly “public”, i.e. readily accessible when people really need it.