ZERO SENSE
If the powers that be increased the police presence on highways (Towards Zero Sense, Redline, May) then this would be a much greater deterrent than hidden speed cameras. But hey, they would be forgoing all that lovely revenue they rake in from hapless motorists doing a handful of km/h over the posted limit!
We all know what tack they will take, it is so predictable. Speed kills, they keep telling us, so they must bleed the motorist dry with fines from hidden speed cameras and then they can then say: “Look how much we collected from these irresponsible motorists.” John Reid, Bowral NSW
Take a bow, Mr Corby! Once again you’ve illuminated a crucial issue with wit and common sense, in your article and column about the loonies in charge of our roads.
Inappropriate speed kills, along with poor car maintenance, appalling roads, ads, booze, drugs and mobile phone hone use. Oh, and fatigue or boredom edom from tootling along at 100110km/h on highways that could ould safely accommodate far higher her limits. But gutless governments nts will not address the issue of incompetent drivers: they are e too easily dazzled by the riversrs of gold earned from fleecing good drivers who occasionally y exceed speed limits.
Until we meet in autonomous us driving purgatory, Stephen, keep ep up the good fight! Stuart Kennedy, via email mail
No sentence in 45 years of reading Wheels has disappointed me more. “A car is a utilitarian device, not this fun pleasure thing they’re advertised as.” Really? Says who? John Voyage, Road Safety Camera Commissioner, apparently. John, a car is what it means to the owner. It’s their money, after all.
Just for the record, a car is at once a technological marvel, an engineering achievement, a piece of art and a product of an industry that has delivered more innovation, research, productivity gains and economic contribution than most. In evaluating safety, the automotive industry has contributed continual improvement in every way: better brakes, passive safety, the development of a host of electronic driver aids which will one day lead to a real autonomous capability, to name a few. Kevin Holmes, Gisborne, Vic
The irony of Vicroads slowing or stopping traffic flow to save lives seems to be at odds when state governments announce they intend to spend billions of dollars on new freeways to get traffic moving and save the economy several billion more.
And let’s not forget that Victorian freeway exits have had the state government’s magic touch stamped all over them so they become another car park. John Anderson, Donvale, Vic
To read that Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission considers the jury’s still out regarding the value of enhanced driver training is nothing short of stupefying.
I’ve spent more than 20 years as a professional pilot and can say that decades of research into human factors in aviation crashes have proven that it is statistically impossible to eliminate them so long as humans are involved at any point in the chain. The best we can hope for is to apply the knowledge gained from such unfortunate events to place an even greater emphasis on education and training to reduce their occurrence in the future.
But even an industry with the enviable safety record that aviation enjoys would never be so irresponsible – dare I say delusional – as to promote the idea that the accident rate could be reduced to zero. Brad Fuller, via email
I would like to thank Stephen Corby for asking difficult people awkward questions. How many more people have to die on our roads before governments realise their road safety strategies are just not working?
Like a lot of car enthusiasts, I am now admitting defeat. I am no longer interested in driving; my lovely SS Commodore will be swapped for a household appliance on wheels. Patrick Hake, Busselton, WA