On a warm, tropical night, two tourists strolled along a sidewalk to their hotel. A white sports car roared down the street, racing with another vehicle. Suddenly it jumped the curb, hitting and instantly killing the two pedestrians. The driver swerved back on the road, speeding away into the night.
The dead bodies of the tourists were found on the grass beside the sidewalk in front of their hotel. An eye witness later told police that the speeding cars were going so fast he couldn't see what kind they were, just two white cars.
Cops found the abandoned, banged-up sports car miles away. The driver turned up a week later. He had a previous felony conviction for reckless driving. His license had expired.
Although an extreme case, this shows why pedestrians are in particular danger from speeders. Speed itself is not the problem. Inappropriate speed, not suited to the conditions of the road, is the potential killer.
Any mistake by a speeder can have fatal consequences. Yet, drivers routinely speed dangerously on secondary roads where men, women, and children walk peacefully along sidewalks. Where there are no sidewalks, it's even more dangerous.
The world suffers from a pandemic of inappropriate speed. One way to break its grip is to demand that local political leaders provide the funding and resources to fight this speeding pandemic. How many pedestrians and innocent drivers must die before this problem is put on the front burner of public policy?
The dead bodies of the tourists were found on the grass beside the sidewalk in front of their hotel. An eye witness later told police that the speeding cars were going so fast he couldn't see what kind they were, just two white cars.
Cops found the abandoned, banged-up sports car miles away. The driver turned up a week later. He had a previous felony conviction for reckless driving. His license had expired.
Although an extreme case, this shows why pedestrians are in particular danger from speeders. Speed itself is not the problem. Inappropriate speed, not suited to the conditions of the road, is the potential killer.
Any mistake by a speeder can have fatal consequences. Yet, drivers routinely speed dangerously on secondary roads where men, women, and children walk peacefully along sidewalks. Where there are no sidewalks, it's even more dangerous.
The world suffers from a pandemic of inappropriate speed. One way to break its grip is to demand that local political leaders provide the funding and resources to fight this speeding pandemic. How many pedestrians and innocent drivers must die before this problem is put on the front burner of public policy?
No comments:
Post a Comment