Here's a letter I just sent in to Wheels magazine... y'all may have heard about it. I guess enough is enough. Anyhoo you be the judge.
Dear Wheels,
OK. Enough is enough. Forget which expert is justifying which side of the speed debate. Throw away all common sense that's left among the government policy makers, if indeed there's any at all. I think we've found the ultimate justification for the police and government's sickening, life-endangering fetish for targeting young, speeding drivers and completely ignoring the other blatant signs of danger. Recently in Sydney, a young teenage girl was acquited of all responsibility in the deaths of 2 young high school friends who were sitting in the boot of her late model VW Gold hatch after she lost control of the vehicle, ploughed into a tree backwards, in the rain, on her P-plates, at night and the 2 boys tragically were killed. The courts found her not responsible at all. How about them being in her car when she had a right to say no, the fact that SHE was driving, that neither were sitting in government approved seats, that neither of them were wearing seatbelts, that it was raining at night and that doing even the limit at night in a car with driver alone, for her age, was probably unsafe. She could have said no. She could have come back to pick them up. She could have possibly even done 20km/h or even more below the limit. I'm no expert, but a kindergarten child could take a look at the written-off car and confirm it wasn't driving at a safe speed. The only safe speed would have been one where hitting even a stationary object wouldn't have caused any harm to her passengers, if any speed at all. She had at least 7 people in a VW Golf. Whilst I don't think she should be branded or lynched, I do believe she should never have the right to drive again, or at the very least be banned for a long time. She has to live with the scars and for that I'm sorry. But she is an adult regardless of her age. When in charge of a motor car, one is an adult not by choice but by necessity. My verdict, according to common sense and not legal technicalities and highly paid lawyers - 2 counts of dangerous driving causing death, negligent driving (for losing control) and 2 counts of passengers not wearing seatbelts even though none were available. Imagine the verdict if a guy had been driving exactly the same car and 2 girls were killed.
For crying out loud my dear NSW Government (and we are all crying hoarse here, it's beginning to hurt) start to target inexperienced drivers by teaching them how to drive, how to be responsible, how to judge a car safely. Target those damn Hyundai Excels with rear foglights, those Commodore SS with the 130w "driving" lights, those who are oblivious to all other road users (generally driving Japanese branded whitegoods), the multitude of obviously defective cars I pass every time I drive, the 400kw front wheel drive 1980 Turbos full of young guys doing 30 above the limit, the muppets who can barely see over the dashboard and drive 20km/h below the limit... where will it end? Can I just go out and deliberately run someone down, but because I'm doing the limit it's technically OK? As long as I'm not speeding I guess I can get away with anything. Obviously been done before. Coming from a 22 year old with not much driving experience, who is possibly awaiting his first ever ticket because he may have been doing about 7km/h over the posted limit in double demerits point time, alone, in a brand new car fitted with ABS, good tyres and in dry weather, I just think it's a little rich. Can I be the first to say I feel disgraced to own a NSW driver's licence?
Yours in rather heated sincerity,
Matthew
Let's see if it gets published. Cheers,
Matt
Dear Wheels,
OK. Enough is enough. Forget which expert is justifying which side of the speed debate. Throw away all common sense that's left among the government policy makers, if indeed there's any at all. I think we've found the ultimate justification for the police and government's sickening, life-endangering fetish for targeting young, speeding drivers and completely ignoring the other blatant signs of danger. Recently in Sydney, a young teenage girl was acquited of all responsibility in the deaths of 2 young high school friends who were sitting in the boot of her late model VW Gold hatch after she lost control of the vehicle, ploughed into a tree backwards, in the rain, on her P-plates, at night and the 2 boys tragically were killed. The courts found her not responsible at all. How about them being in her car when she had a right to say no, the fact that SHE was driving, that neither were sitting in government approved seats, that neither of them were wearing seatbelts, that it was raining at night and that doing even the limit at night in a car with driver alone, for her age, was probably unsafe. She could have said no. She could have come back to pick them up. She could have possibly even done 20km/h or even more below the limit. I'm no expert, but a kindergarten child could take a look at the written-off car and confirm it wasn't driving at a safe speed. The only safe speed would have been one where hitting even a stationary object wouldn't have caused any harm to her passengers, if any speed at all. She had at least 7 people in a VW Golf. Whilst I don't think she should be branded or lynched, I do believe she should never have the right to drive again, or at the very least be banned for a long time. She has to live with the scars and for that I'm sorry. But she is an adult regardless of her age. When in charge of a motor car, one is an adult not by choice but by necessity. My verdict, according to common sense and not legal technicalities and highly paid lawyers - 2 counts of dangerous driving causing death, negligent driving (for losing control) and 2 counts of passengers not wearing seatbelts even though none were available. Imagine the verdict if a guy had been driving exactly the same car and 2 girls were killed.
For crying out loud my dear NSW Government (and we are all crying hoarse here, it's beginning to hurt) start to target inexperienced drivers by teaching them how to drive, how to be responsible, how to judge a car safely. Target those damn Hyundai Excels with rear foglights, those Commodore SS with the 130w "driving" lights, those who are oblivious to all other road users (generally driving Japanese branded whitegoods), the multitude of obviously defective cars I pass every time I drive, the 400kw front wheel drive 1980 Turbos full of young guys doing 30 above the limit, the muppets who can barely see over the dashboard and drive 20km/h below the limit... where will it end? Can I just go out and deliberately run someone down, but because I'm doing the limit it's technically OK? As long as I'm not speeding I guess I can get away with anything. Obviously been done before. Coming from a 22 year old with not much driving experience, who is possibly awaiting his first ever ticket because he may have been doing about 7km/h over the posted limit in double demerits point time, alone, in a brand new car fitted with ABS, good tyres and in dry weather, I just think it's a little rich. Can I be the first to say I feel disgraced to own a NSW driver's licence?
Yours in rather heated sincerity,
Matthew
Let's see if it gets published. Cheers,
Matt
