Big Brother is watching you......

...from all directions.

It's not bad enough that we drivers have to waste precious brain synapses scanning the sides of the road in two dimensions, watching for police officers skulking behind road signs, hedges, bridge abutments, on their unending quest to enforce an unenforceable speed limit.

But now we have to pay attention in three dimensions, because cops are standing on bridge overpasses with their radar guns.

Like we don't have enough else to do?

I don't know if this tactic is all that new, but I've only seen it recently myself, and some readers have observed it too.

As I've said a million times, the entire exercise is futile, because 100-plus years of speed limit enforcement has obviously not had any effect; otherwise, they wouldn't have to keep on trying.

The exercise is also pointless, because speed simply is not the issue in traffic safety. Seat belts, impaired driving, and lousy driving skills are the issues.

Any police resources we devote to anything else are completely wasted.

Why are they still doing it?

You'll have to ask them.

 

Comments

[Brian]

I saw it last year. The OPPs favourite spot around here. 403 eastbound heading towards Brantford, at the Oak Park interchange in Paris. Before noon there might be one car come by there every 5-10 seconds. Certainly not unsafe. There was the OPP on the bridge pointing the lidar at the eastbound traffic, with seven cruisers lined up on the onramp. Engines all running, I might add. Just in case a fleet of speeders came by, I suppose.

[Sam Brown]

You guys don't know you are born! Try driving in England. Speed cameras everywhere plus vans loaded with speed trap stuff that move around to different locations. Cops on bridges are a regular feature. The cynics among us are sure that all this activity is simply a revenue earner (fixed penalty for four, yes four mph over the urban 30 limit gets you a £60 fine and three points on your licence. No appeals, but you can be offered an option to take a a one day classroom "Speed Awareness Course" whereby you get off without a fine or points. I have to say, having been a bad boy (35mph in a 30 limit) I elected to go on one and it was quite well done. Another development is the expansion of the Speed Vigilante movement in which villagers club together to buy a speed gun and set up a rota of folk to man the trap at peak hours. The traps have no legal standing as far as reporting offenders is concerned, but it sure feels intimidating!

[Larry]

So as long as most people have lousy driving skills, it's okay to let them drive over the speed limit?

[JIm Smith]

Jim
I'm not sure why you are against speed enforcement and how some how you don't seem to equate speeding with lousy driving skills. The reality is speed either excessive or too fast for road conditions results in serious injuries and fatalities. The research and the is relationship between speed and injury prevention is solid.
If your still not convinced, try this exercise - walk into a wall, then run as fast as you can into the same wall, My guess is the latter is going to hurt you a lot more. It's all about physics my friend.