Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Thinking something doesn't make it so.

Here we go again, road safety campaigners have called for a 20 mph limit in urban areas because... "86% of children in London think drivers go too fast."
Not that 86% of drivers are going too fast, not that the percentage of death and accidents are on the rise (they aren't) but because young people who can't drive, think drivers are going too fast.

BBC.
Road safety campaigners are calling for 20mph speed limits in residential areas as a survey shows 86% of children in London think drivers go too fast.
The poll was conducted by the charity Brake of 2,630 children, aged nine to 13, in the London and the South East for Road Safety Week.
The survey also found 9% said they had been knocked down while walking or cycling and 55% have had a near miss.
Brake says a 20mph limit would help cut child road deaths to zero.
In 2009, 37 children were killed and 763 were seriously injured on roads in London and the South East, with 61% of these deaths and serious injuries being youngsters on foot or bicycle.
I wonder what Brake will do if road deaths were actually cut down to zero? Disband? I somehow have my doubts, there's always something new.
Children think they are immortal anyway, they play, they show off and they do stupid things on or next to roads with moving traffic. A lot of accidents are caused by pedestrians walking out in front of cars etc and not looking, rather than the drivers themselves being in any way at fault. During the summer months when the kids were on holiday, we had a bunch of kids playing in the street here, they were doing wheelies on their bikes and running in and out of parked cars playing chasey. Not one was hit by a car, though it's not a busy road, there's a fair amount of cars use it.
Perhaps, if Brake kept kids to pavements and not on roads they could bring the death rate down to zero, just a thought.

7 annotations:

Anonymous said...

your an idiot

Bucko said...

Whatever happened to the green cross code. These days its always the drivers fault, not the stupid kids.
I suppose its easier to get cash out of drivers through fines and compo.

Quiet_Man said...

That's the problem Bucko, motorists are always seen as a cash cow.

As for anonymous, at least I'm grammatically correct, they seem to have taught me something at school along with road safety.

Anonymous said...

20mph speed limits encourage pedestrians to take less care when using the road. The proof of this statement lies in the fact that pedestrians with reason to cross motorways take a lot of care and tend not to be mown down.
Some research into the number of deaths caused, in days long past, by the horse and cart would suggest speed (within reason) is not the culprit.
Yes I know - I’m an idiot.

English Pensioner said...

I live near some schools and always try to avoid going out in that car at school starting and leaving times. The children simply don't seem to have any road sense, they step into the road to "overtake" others on the pavement, see a mate across the road and cross without even looking. And as for using the zebra crossing, that's just being too conformist!
Those parents who drive them to school are as bad. A car stops and the off-side doors are flung open without warning and they pile out. In most countries it is an offence for anyone except the driver to get out a vehicle on the off-side.
Perhaps it time to start fining pedestrians for jay walking - what about making it an offence to cross the road within say 50 yards of a crossing and not use the crossing?

Trooper Thompson said...

I see a great many close calls in London. They almost always involve pedestrian tossers on mobile phones paying no attention.

All Seeing Eye said...

Yes, remind me, when was the last time a fake charity closed down with a cheery "I reckon that's us all done here!". Not whilst there's a single taxpayer ha'penny to be had.

would help cut child road deaths to zero

Even if you ban cars completely, some idiot child is going to be stepped on by a bored horse. Or a long distance ambulance-elephant.

Way to go setting yourselves impossible targets, guys. In a recent survey, 100% of AllSeeingEyes thought that Brake was full of shit.