Bicycle Austin forum

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

Website

Speeding as a victimless crime

On Nextdoor.com, a neighbor, complaining about APD's seemingly disinterested response to his car being broken into, said, "APD [is] too busy writing speeding tickets to investigate and prevent crime perpetrated on citizens (real victims)."

It's a real problem that people see speeding as a victimless crime.

The economic cost to society of speeding-related crashes is estimated by NHTSA to be $40.4 billion per year. In 2007, speeding was a contributing factor in 31 percent of all fatal crashes, and 13,040 lives were lost in speeding-related crashes.

dougmc

Administrator

Registered: 2008-06-01

Posts: 631

Re: Speeding as a victimless crime

Or, my favorite quote from this article regarding speed bumps --

“We should be given the option of slowing down voluntarily"

Um, yeah, Paul.

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

Website

Re: Speeding as a victimless crime

And the context is priceless:

Paul is the chair of the neighborhood safety committee.

Truly we live in an age of irony.

Anyway, it's like I always say:  We can stripe in bike lanes until we're blue in the face, but until we change drivers' hearts and minds, the roads will never be safe.  And based on Paul's comment, we certainly have a LOOOOONG way to go.