Like we do with guns, we romanticize automobiles. Both are deadly weapons in the wrong hands, but we prefer to dwell on their design, their power and their physical presence. Most automobile owners are no different than gun owners in their fervor over their "right" to own them with minimal government interference or oversight.
The difference, however, is that gun owners understand the deadly potential of their firearms, which is why the vast majority of them use and store them responsibly. They know that people can get hurt or die from their negligence.
Too bad we don't think exactly the same way before putting the key into the ignition and turning it. Instead, most of us are thinking about getting to our destination, how we're running a few minutes late and how we forgot to take out something for dinner. We're chatting with our passengers and listening to the radio or the GPS. In other words, we give no thought to the danger we pose to ourselves and others the moment we put the vehicle in gear and press the gas.
That's why the driver nabbed going more than 40 km/h over the speed limit through a school zone last week in Prince George deserves no sympathy. Her family member said it was unfair to impound the vehicle for seven days on someone not from the city, leaving the driver and her passengers on the side of the road with their luggage.
The only thing that was inappropriate was the ticket was for only $200. It should have been $368 to $483, which is the ticketed fine for excessive speeding in B.C., along with three points. Since the driver said she didn't see the sign instructing her to slow down from
70 km/h to 30 km/h while going past Pineview elementary on the Old Cariboo Highway, how about an extra $196 fine and six points against the licence for driving with undue care and attention? That would be more appropriate.
A better appreciation of the seriousness of the offense comes from imagining our children or grandchildren attending Pineview elementary. Suddenly, tolerance evaporates for someone going more than double the speed limit past a school, at a speed that could easily kill a child and likely an adult, too, depending on the size of the vehicle. The argument was made that the school zone should be marked better, that the four signs - two in each direction, one an advisory sign that a school zone is ahead and then the actual school zone speed limit sign - were insufficient and a better-marked school zone would have prevented the whole thing.
That's "blame everybody else" logic. If there had been six signs, instead of four, 100 signs, instead of 90, bright red flashing lights, instead of bright yellow flashing lights, none of this would have happened.
Seen in reverse, the outcry would have been considerable and well-deserved if the RCMP officer hadn't pulled over the driver or had only given a warning, instead of the fine and impounding the vehicle. As Cpl. Corey Eggen with Prince George RCMP municipal traffic services explained, there is no discretion used for excessive speeding in a school zone. To parse the officer's words, discretion is used around "normal" speeding in a school zone, depending on the time of day, the location of the school, whether the kids are out of the building for recess or lunch, the amount over the speed limit, the weather conditions and so on.
Just as there are people who argue there should be zero tolerance towards any infractions involving guns, there are some who would say police should be ruthless on any speeding in any school zone at any time. Police officers are in a difficult situation out in the field when it comes to exercising discretion.
There is breaking the letter of the law and violating the spirit of the law. Telling the difference between the two isn't always easy and the call often has to be made in a split second. Better that officers are less tolerant, rather than more tolerant, with speeders.
In the end, however, the responsibility doesn't lie with the officer, just like it doesn't lie with the number of signs. The responsibility lies with the driver.
When each of us gets behind the wheel, we should not only remember that we've just engaged a powerful and deadly weapon to transport us from one location to another.
We should also remember that our driver's licence is more than a card permitting us to drive, it's a pact with the rest of the community that we will drive in a manner that respects the right of others to personal safety, a right that is far more important than the privilege of owning and driving a vehicle.
-- Managing editor Neil Godbout
