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03/26/2012 09:10 AM
Driver education
Following on from last week's post about self-driving cars, it occurs to me that the true solution to the driving "problem" isn't increasing the number of interfering driving "aids" that are put in cars. We don't need ABS, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning systems, blind spot cameras and all the other nonsense. What we need is proper driver education and regular re-testing, enforced with steep fines. The education would cost, as would the re-testing, and the fines would be steep enough to cover some costs whilst at the same time being a disincentive for people to re-offend. Look at other more enlightened countries - especially those in Scandinavia where it takes a year or more to do the driving education course and drivers are required to know how to handle their cars in terrible road conditions (snow, ice, rain), at night, in towns and on freeways, at many different speeds. Compare that to the joke of a driving education and testing system in America where driving licences are handed out like candy and you can be legally blind and still have a licence. The statistics bear out the education argument too. Sweden has one sixth the casualty and accident rate of the US per capita. Germany has one third. Most European countries have at least half the rate the US does if not more. (Countries by traffic-related deaths) The problem is the culture of inclusion, where a car is treated as a right instead of a privilege. Society today is afraid to tell people that they've failed at something so instead we try to ensure that everyone gets a driving licence and then we deal with the consequences of this flawed policy by loading cars up with all manner of gadgets in an attempt to keep people safe. Now don't...