VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – As you make your long weekend escape, the latest numbers show burning rubber on the highway isn’t as fun as it used to be, thanks to tougher penalties for excessive speeding.
But one expert feels enforcement alone isn’t the solution.
Those penalties kick in once you’re caught going 40 kilometers or more over the posted speed limit, resulting in more than 16,000 cars being impounded since September 2010.
Allan Lamb with the Justice Institute feels the laws don’t need any more beefing-up.
“Really, what we need is for all of us to have a word with ourselves and just see… if the extra speed is getting us to our destination any faster than… we could get there obeying the speed limit,” he argues.
He notes speeding, not impaired driving, is still the number one cause of crashes leading to serious injuries and death, yet Lamb points out speeding is still tolerated.
“Speeding is still socially acceptable, unlike impaired driving,” he says.
“Impaired driving was socially acceptable; it no longer is, of course. One day, I believe, we’ll get to the point where most drivers will understand that speeding is also socially unacceptable.”
Lamb is pleased enforcement is making a dent, but warns until there is a cultural shift that makes speeding as socially unacceptable as impaired driving, the problem will not improve.