They are Waiting to Save You from.....Yourself!
Earlier we spoke of the warning that law enforcement would be concentrating more intensely this year on speeding. True to their word the Big Guns are out there. The part I don’t like is that it is more about raising revenue than law enforcement. The police are to be respected as enforcing the law, in my opinion, and to reduce their status to that of revenue officers lowers the overall respect for Law and Order generally, but I’m not in charge, so my opinion counts for nothing.
In the city of Valencia, many a driver has come to a shocking realisation along the Ronda Norte and Ronda Sud. We are reminded that the limit is 50 kph, the same as driving along any interior city road, however, very few people adhere to that limit.
Recently, apparently someone who has felt the sting of a fine for speeding along those routes was driving along so slowly that all the traffic was going around him. As I caught up with him I noticed my speedometer was reading 50 kph. Ah! Thought I. The problem is that this person is travelling at the legal speed limit.
Some times, the speed limit posted is a really good suggestion to keep drivers from injuring themselves. I’m being facetious, of course, because legal speed limits are always for that purpose. There is one stretch of road where you climb a small hill, and as you go over the top you are faced with a place where traffic might be crossing the road from the right. Many large trucks use that area, and if you were travelling at 100kph and an extra long truck was crossing you would not be able to stop in time.
The year 2009 was a bellweather year in that the number of people killed on Spanish roads fell below 2000. The truth is that if we all slow down that would help that number to fall even further. The number that we are hoping to beat on the low side is 1,897. We, acting as a group, can do that. We can make Spain’s roads the most safe in all of Europe.
Whether it’s a case of raising money or raising awareness it really is in our own interests to show respect to the speed camera, avoid the penalties and stay safe.
My best wishes to all my fellow drivers for a “Multa-Free” year. That would be just fine in my point of view.
Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael
Earlier we spoke of the warning that law enforcement would be concentrating more intensely this year on speeding. True to their word the Big Guns are out there. The part I don’t like is that it is more about raising revenue than law enforcement. The police are to be respected as enforcing the law, in my opinion, and to reduce their status to that of revenue officers lowers the overall respect for Law and Order generally, but I’m not in charge, so my opinion counts for nothing.
In the city of Valencia, many a driver has come to a shocking realisation along the Ronda Norte and Ronda Sud. We are reminded that the limit is 50 kph, the same as driving along any interior city road, however, very few people adhere to that limit.
Recently, apparently someone who has felt the sting of a fine for speeding along those routes was driving along so slowly that all the traffic was going around him. As I caught up with him I noticed my speedometer was reading 50 kph. Ah! Thought I. The problem is that this person is travelling at the legal speed limit.
Some times, the speed limit posted is a really good suggestion to keep drivers from injuring themselves. I’m being facetious, of course, because legal speed limits are always for that purpose. There is one stretch of road where you climb a small hill, and as you go over the top you are faced with a place where traffic might be crossing the road from the right. Many large trucks use that area, and if you were travelling at 100kph and an extra long truck was crossing you would not be able to stop in time.
The year 2009 was a bellweather year in that the number of people killed on Spanish roads fell below 2000. The truth is that if we all slow down that would help that number to fall even further. The number that we are hoping to beat on the low side is 1,897. We, acting as a group, can do that. We can make Spain’s roads the most safe in all of Europe.
Whether it’s a case of raising money or raising awareness it really is in our own interests to show respect to the speed camera, avoid the penalties and stay safe.
My best wishes to all my fellow drivers for a “Multa-Free” year. That would be just fine in my point of view.
Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael
