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Similarly, we believe that using
police-led enforcement based on
hearsay or arbitrary complaints,
conducted only when resources
otherwise prioritised elsewhere
eventually become available,
statistically will target accidental
or first-time offenders to a greater
extent than the more justifiably
habitual and excessive speeding
drivers.
This random practice can to a
large degree be perceived as an
unfair practice, and consequently
create resentment towards the
police's objectives, or in a worst-case scenario, create unconditional and uncritical obedience based on fear instead of understanding and voluntary compliance.
For example, drivers punished for speeding in an area unfamiliar to them; or when trying to get multiple children to different schools in time; or delivering the last of too many parcels before their tight work schedule ends, will often feel unreasonably and randomly persecuted for a mishap that they feel caused no harm in the first place, and secondly that they struggle to balance with road safety considerations without the necessary deeper understanding of the problem and its potential consequences.
Being presented with a fine and points added to their driver's licence without an initial warning will only build contempt for the work the police and camera partnerships are seen to be administering randomly.
We also believe that by relating potential consequences of causing a fatal collision to the speeding driver's own life circumstances, we can successfully, in most cases, put the dangers in a more realistic and personal perspective for the largest, most perceptive category of offenders. By reasoning with people and when they learn from anecdotal scenarios what happened to other people causing death and destruction in situations potentially identical to their own, reflections upon - and changes in their behaviour is far more likely to happen as a result. However, to be able to initiate this process more effectively, we need to learn a lot more about the drivers and their motives for speeding at the time of observation. |
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