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Journal tomhudson's Journal: "Right" to drive 18

Journal by tomhudson
Every once in a while I post a comment that starts something, and it's rarely the comments that I would have thought could be so contentious.

Like this one about RFID tags in cars to save lives, and my opinion that there's a cheaper, faster way: (cut-and-pasted for the click-challenged)

If they were really interested in reducing road fatalities by 50%, there are easier, cheaper ways that can be implemented today!

  1. Compulsory seat-belt use (works in my area)
  2. Mandatory helmet laws for motorcyclists (agan, works in my area)
  3. Zero tolerance for liquored-up drivers
  4. Restricted permits for new drivers (no rush hour, no driving between sunset and sun-up, etc).
  5. Governors on all engines so that it's not possible to exceed the speed limit
  6. Increased penalties for racing, reckless driving, etc.
  7. Removal of so-called "restricted permits" for people who have accumulated too many demerits.
  8. Mandatory retesting for anyone who has lost their license because of moving violations or booze.
  9. Get rid of "road tanks" (SUVs) that make people think they're invulnerable.

Of course, the above aren't techno-sexy ways of saving lives. But they would work. And, for those who are going to point out that these are unreasonable restrictions on freedoms, there's no such thing as a "right" to drive. It's a privilege.

A lot of people "lost it", going on about how driving is a right, how there's no proof seat belts save lives, that it's their right to splatter their brains on the street, etc ...

43,000 people are killed each year in car accidents, second only to heart disease (750,000). Most of these are preventable. Instead of, or in addition to, the "war on terrorism", and the "war on drugs", maybe we should be educating people about the true cost, in terms of lives and money, that stupidity costs each year on the highways.

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"Right" to drive

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  • ...I'd say you're dead on.

    The biggest problem is that just about everyone thinks they are an above-average driver. Even the soccer mom who pays more attention to her kids than to the road, or the testosterone-loaded red-faced maniac who thinks he needs to drive close enough to read your speedometer. Meanwhile, all it takes is one screw-up on a crowded road, and suddenly you have a nice, big pileup -- likely with serious injuries, even fatalities, all because just about everyone drives like an ass.

    (Inclu

    • I like how you point out that transformation of the driver. Back in the day (when quality was important), Disney had a series of cartoons about driving skills and safety, starring Goofy. These films were actually quite good, and there was this awesome part where quiet, good natured Goofy would get behind the wheel, and as he started the car, he would morph into Mr Hyde, a driving monster who drove too fast and yelled at the other drivers. (There was even this great scene where he is honking and yelling a
  • I think what we need is a "war on stupidity" in this country. The worst drivers on the road tend to be the people who are either proud of their stupidity, or else completely self-centered.

    Personally, I try and follow the speed limit, every road direction (Stop signs, caution lights, etc...) and just sensible driving (keeping a good distance between my car and the one in front of me, slow lane changes, etc...). I can't tell you how many morons on the road act like I am some kind of dick who is "getting in
    • You should add a link to this JE in your SIG and see if you can get more traffic going here. This is really a topic VERY worth discussing.
      Consider it done :-)
    • War on stupidity eh?

      You might want to think a moment about the Egyptians in the 1970's. They had an enemy that they absolutely hated and despised; BUT they made peace.

      Why?

      Because they had their butts handed to them regularly for generations.

      Now I'm "right there with ya'" about the driving thing. Heck, I drive a Corvette and manage to keep it at the speed limit (OK, OK I keep it under the limit 99% of the time) so you can imagin how the tailgaters feel about me. But, I think I'll remain neutral in the wa

  • Stupidity is not curable. I mean, for an individual it is, once they meet Darwin at a fork in the road, but collectively, you're never going to cure it.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • ... because in the last 18 hours, 3 people have put me on their foes' list. Just goes to show how attached we are to our wheels :-)
  • Stupidity can't be cured, but ignorance can. Funnily enough, I think most people in the world are actually decent souls. We're not trying to be idiots on the road, we just don't know any better.

    As someone mentioned above, we all think that we're good drivers. Why? Because we've never had anyone educate us to the contrary and we've never really had any real driver education to begin with. And someone else's road rage about our ill-advised lane change isn't exactly an enlightening experience.

    So I would
  • The reason people think they have a right to drive is because they *do* have a right to mobility. People have a right to be able to move freely about public space and to and from private property that they have permission to be on. They have a responsibility to their family, themselves, even society to get to work, to the doctor, or to school. Those responsibilities cannot be discharged without a compensatory right to mobility.

    This is one of the main things that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
  • I followed the link here from your .sig, it's funny that I was thinking about the same thing on my drive home today. I had a lady tailing me close enough to check her teeth in my rearview mirror. Of course, I had plenty of room in front of me, though someone happily rocketed out of a sideroad to fill the void. I even had someone honking at me for not burning through a light that was clearly no turn on red. I suppose I was expected to play chicken with the commuter rail. :p

    I think your suggestions are
    • I wasn't proposing a governor mechanism that worked in conjunction with local speed limits. I just think that, if we limit vehicles to a safe maximum speed, we'll go a long way to reducing the death toll. A crash that's survivable at 60mph might not be at 100 mph, and the person going 100mph is also a hazard to everyone else.

      Guess I should have made it clear. Sorry :-(

      Mind you, a lot of bad drivers ARE stupid. They don't know how to read street signs, even pictograms. How smart do you have to be not to un

  • First of all: This is my first reply to anyone's journal. You have the dubious honor of being the first slashdotter whose journal I've ever replied in. Congratulations. ;)

    Here in the Netherlands, there is no such thing as a "driving permit". It is illegal for a driving student to drive with anyone other than a professional driving instructor or driving examiner alongside the student. In addition, the lessons have to be taken be in a specially modified vehicle with extra pedals in the front passenger's seat
    • During the time when I was still taking lessons, I was actually helping my younger American cousin over in the states, who just obtained her driver's license, but wasn't used to driving stick... That was pretty frustrating. I knew more, but she was the one with the license, not I. :D

      Over here most people take lessons and exams in cars with manual transmissions. As a matter of fact, one can insist to take lessons and the eventual exam in an automatic, but if they do so, they get a limited license, which doe
      • I learned on an automatic, and the first thing I did was buy a 4x4 pickup w. manual transmission (needed it for a business I had just started way back when).

        While I was screwing the license plates on, the salesman asked me if I had ever driven a 4x4 before. I told him I had never even driven a standard transmission before, but I was looking forward to it :-)

        It's a good thing I'm a quick learner :-)

        Same when I bought my motorcycle. Didn't do the "try before you buy" thing. Figured out how to shift in Frid

        • Man, you're a freaking maniac! :D

          It's a good thing we have this law over here specifically forbidding Canadian tourists from driving while they visit here. :P

          Just kidding, there's no such law. ;)

          At least you drive on the right side of the road and have metric road signs, just like we do. :)

          Personally, I'm not nearly that bold when it comes to driving. But then again, I don't drive nearly as often.
  • I'm one of those 'maniac' drivers who does 30mph above most speed limits, but let me defend myself for a moment: I don't tailgate in anything but the far-left lane, I don't speed in school zones or areas with many pedestrians, I don't try to 'beat the light', I rarely pass on the right, and I'm curteous to let anyone with a turn signal on get to where they need to be. That said, I object to the speed limit restriction, unless it's modified to give different speed limits to different vehicles and drivers. A

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