BY NAOMI LAKRITZ MAY 29, 2012
Naomi Lakritz
The word “extreme” is taking on a different cachet. When it’s used to describe various sports, it has an aura of glamour, high performance, exclusivity and daring.
Not so when it refers to driving your car on Alberta roads — and it’s about time the adjective “extreme” carried a negative connotation and came with some very negative consequences.
In the wake of reports of police catching the drivers of a couple of pickup trucks who were barrelling down the deadly Highway 63 between Fort McMurray and Edmonton, doing speeds of 180 km/h, Transportation Minister Ric McIver has begun talking about the possibility of seizing the cars of those going extreme speeds.
Bring it on, Minister McIver. It’s about time these people get their comeuppance.
“I think the public would support taking those vehicles right away,” McIver said.
Let the punishment fit the crime. You speed, you lose.
This member of the public certainly supports it — and I don’t think it should be limited to people using the highways.
There is not a law-abiding driver in Calgary who doesn’t have multiple horror stories to recount about speeders seen on city streets over the years. My most recent incident took place about two weeks ago. I was driving along John Laurie Boulevard when I saw a red ’68 Mustang convertible driven by a middle-aged guy, clearly in the throes of a mid-life crisis, blaring rap music to shake the pavement, and revving his engine at a red light, as he overdosed on what remained of his testosterone, anxious to be off. Or possibly he was just anxious to show off to any young women drivers in nearby cars he had deluded himself into believing might be interested in him if he flashed a lot of noise and speed. As the light turned green and the cars around him began accelerating to reach the posted speed limit of 70, he took off and was soon a speck in the distance, going at least 120, if not faster.
With no police car in sight — there never is when someone like this is so flagrantly available for the nabbing — he naturally got away with it.
If McIver’s proposal were to become law, however, the fear of something much more serious than a mere ticket, such as losing one’s car on the spot, might provide enough of a fear factor to keep guys like him in check.
Who are these bozos who go tearing around city streets and highways, stupidly endangering themselves and others? According to Transport Canada, “speeding is a factor in about 25 per cent of deaths from vehicle crashes.” The statistics culled from a 2008 fact sheet called A Quick Look at Speeding Crashes in Canada, which examined crashes between 2002 and 2004, show that 80 per cent of speeders involved in fatal collisions are younger than 45, with 40 per cent between the ages of 16 and 24.
However, one interesting stat is that “speeding is increasing faster among drivers over 45 ... than among drivers younger than 45 years.” That certainly accounts for Mr. Midlife Crisis in the red Mustang.
The fact sheet goes on to say that “most drivers killed in speed-related crashes were themselves speeding,” that 80 per cent of young adult passengers who were killed in a speeding crash were in the vehicle with a speeding driver of similar age,” that “single-vehicle crashes accounted for more than 50 per cent of speeding deaths and serious injuries,” and that “one in three speeding drivers involved in a fatal crash had been drinking.”
In 2007, an Ekos report on Canadian drivers’ attitudes toward speeding, done for Transport Canada, found that “one in five drivers say that enjoying the feeling associated with driving fast has been a reason for them to speed” and a group that the report labelled the risk-takers, “seems to want to speed because they enjoy taking risks and defying authority. In short, they enjoy it and they do it on purpose.”
It’s long past time for them to face some very harsh music for their actions. Go for it, Minister McIver.
Naomi Lakritz is a Herald columnist.
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