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GRIZZLING
Posted On 24 Jun 2024
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LIES, DAMNED LIES AND STATISTIC
“Strange that we all got flat tyres at the same time…”
Let’s get the actual danger of “speed” on the road into perspective once again.
During a recent interview on ABC Radio’s Ockham’s Razor with Robert Solomon, former parliamentarian and now apparently an authority on road safety, pointed out an interesting comparison.
Australia’s rate of road deaths per 100,000 people is 5.1, the same as for France with its speed-limited autoroutes.
That put us 15th among the 32 countries which contributed to the International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) in 2013. Despite its 8000km of unlimited speed autobahns (plus another 5000km limited to 130km/h), Germany’s rate was only 4.1, making it 11th of 32.
The UK (where in my experience everyone speeds, at least on the motorway) had a rate of 2.8.
Less developed countries such as Namibia (where the roads are so bad you can’t speed) and Thailand (where they are too choked) have shocking death rates of 45 and 44 respectively. “Iran is little better with 38, despite having differential speed signs of 100, 110 and 120 for the lanes of divided highways.
“Between 2000 and 2012 the annual road death toll in the IRTAD countries fell by nearly 40 per cent,” said Solomon, “largely as a result of ‘robust road safety strategies’ involving speed management, alcohol control and seatbelt use.”
I would argue with that, er, argument.
I suspect, with some pretty good backing from other road safety authorities, that in fact improved roads and overall safer cars (not just seatbelt fitment) were more ‘robust road safety strategies’ than his suggestions.
Sadly, and as usual, motorcycles didn’t get a mention but Solomon did point out that “Pedestrians and cyclist [sic] safety was not reduced [sic] by the same amount, probably because there are increasing numbers of cyclists and more old pedestrians.”
Well, yeah, but wouldn’t his ‘robust road safety strategies’ have helped cyclists and pedestrians by stopping cars from mowing them down? Isn’t that another hint that it was cars that take greater care of their drivers and passengers that are a major reason for the improved safety?
Whatever; our thanks go to Robert Solomon and the ABC for at least raising the fact that it is not necessarily speed that kills.
Ducati has taken the idea of bike electronics further than any other manufacturer by simply replacing the rider and pillion with robots.There’s no need for ABS or cruise control or any other electronics when the rider can have them all built in. Borgo Panigale is, of course, just making sure that our new Robotic AI Overlords ride Ducatis rather than some other marque
RESIGN! RESIGN!
I’ve got to stop reading. The latest issue (as I write this) of New Scientist features a story about the human-like behaviour and ability that some wild animals show. Now quite apart from the Russian circus bears who ride motorcycles, I had thought that most of my achievements (such as they are) would be superior to those of which animals are capable.
Turns out that’s not so.
I can handle the fact that killer whales can learn complex songs while I struggle with “Happy Birthday”; singing is not high on my list of priorities. But elephants can apparently remember up to a thousand individuals and recognise them by sight or scent. Now okay, there are a few fellow motorcyclists I know whom I’d recognise by “scent” as well. But all in all I doubt that I could recognise more than about 200 individuals by sight or smell.
This is not helped by a peculiar tendency I have to “see” a celebrity when I’m looking at a perfectly ordinary person.
For example, F.W. deKlerk cuts some of the lawns in my street, and Lloyd Bridges drives the 288 bus.
A trick memory like that can pose problems, such as humming a few bars of the Internationale to a bloke in the Chemist’s and then finding he’s not Friedrich Engels after all. Maybe I should resign and hand my job over to an elephant. The only real problem is finding a keyboard big enough…
