I read with interest Trevor Fik’s article on the new driving laws in the Oct. 1st edition of the Cascade. His first major point is essentially that 40km/h over the speed limit can be an honest mistake, and that it is irresponsible to take way someone’s livelihood. What about personal responsibility? 40 km/h over is in the neighbourhood of double the limit on the average suburban street. If you succeed in going that far over the limit, maybe it isn’t the government that is being irresponsible. If you find yourself accidentally that far over the speed limit with any regularity, maybe it is time to consider putting more care and attention into your driving.
Fik also takes issue with police officers having some leeway with how these laws are applied. He seems to have missed the fact that this has been the case with all sorts of enforcement for years, and while it may lead to the odd bad call, it seems to largely work.
Fik’s final major point that I take issue with is his belief that people will just speed anyway and that we need more understanding before we can do anything effective. Fik is right that a segment of the population will continue to drive irresponsibly. But I think he is mistaken in the belief that we will someday find a perfect solution. These are the tools that we have today and I hope they will reduce the percentage of irresponsible drivers, and if not, we must push our government for alternative solutions.
-Shawn Feddes
