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Governing Speeders
Posted 10/30/2012 4:28:00 AM

RCMP are still dealing with excessive speeds on the highway.  Edmonton police are dealing with a high-speed crash that left two in hospital.  We keep asking the question, how can we slow these people down?  Do we need tougher financial penalties, or will it take a loss of license or having the car seized?  These speeders are a danger to everyone on the highway and they just don’t seem to care.  A letter from a truck driver, someone who makes a living on the highway has a possible solution: Governors.  Semis have governors to regulate their speeds.  He says any police officer or an investigator from the Department of Transport can plug in to see if they’ve been driving over the posted speed limit.  So, there’s a suggestion.  Governors installed on the cars of speeders.  No doubt the high-flyers would complain some right was being trampled, although we are often told driving is a privilege and not even a right.  And the makers of fast cars would fight governors, but absent adequate penalties, what do you suggest?  Let me know. 

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Posted By: Bob Layton  

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  • 17
  1. Richard posted on 10/30/2012 07:01 AM This comment was edited by a moderator at 07:15 AM on 10/30/2012
    The police cannot claim to be serious about stopping speeding so long as they allow people to flout the law with anti photo licence plate covers.
    That makes me angry. It is like people are saying that they are above the laws that were created for all of us. The police turn a blind eye.

    Bob replies: Have you thought of turning one of these guys in?
  2. Bill posted on 10/30/2012 07:11 AM
    Governors are a good start. I still say we need a lot more police. (At least four times as many on traffic control). You may ask where would the money come from to pay for these extra officers. I'm sure the money they bring in would be more than enough. They should also have demerits for photo radar and red light camera infractions.
  3. Robert posted on 10/30/2012 07:14 AM
    I agree with the truck driver about putting governors onto cars, especially here in Alberta.

    And last I checked, one of the conditions for earning your licence....DON'T SPEED!!!

    I know education is not always enough because we still have people who smoke or does drugs, speeders, distracted driving, drunk driving, hell season 8 of Canada's Worst Driver started last night and an 18 year old douche bag seems to think that being responsible on the roads is over rated.

    You can issue a tonne of speeding tickets to the same person, and he uses them as toilet paper as if it's not his fault he was speeding, it's the police's fault that he got caught.

    But if fast car manufacturers object to governors... the impression I get is that it's not the drug dealer's, it's the kids who buy them.
  4. Barry posted on 10/30/2012 07:30 AM
    Pullllleese , a right is being trampled ? How about the rights of all others who have the right to drive on the safe roads?
  5. Tony posted on 10/30/2012 07:31 AM
    Governors would be expensive in cost conscious times. Just sieze the licence and vehicle, make them walk!
    1. Doug posted on 10/30/2012 01:00 PM
      @Tony I am not sure how true this is .... but a while back a police friend of mine said there are a number of unlicensed drivers on the road. They just borrow someone elses vehicle when theirs is seized, or change the plate and carry on driving w/o a license or insurance. A few years ago our home was hit by a DUIO, unlicensed, uninsured vehicle. It was the third offence according to the court but he only got a slap on the hand fine and his suspension extended by 6 more months. It is a scary thought about how many drivers are like the aforementioned and speed!!!

      Maybe some jail time or pink/striped coveralls cleaning up the highways and byways they speed on is in order
  6. fred posted on 10/30/2012 10:05 AM
    Make all the laws you like and invent all the devices you can but you will still end up with these speeders. Why???? There are no concequences!!!

    They will void the devices ( gee, have we ever seen a semi speeding ) and the courts will dumb down the laws (but collect the fines and do what ever with them) and no the speeders do not care if they kill you too.

    ------SURPRIZE-------
  7. Lorne Corbett posted on 10/30/2012 10:37 AM
    Hi Bob...speed demons should get fines,community work and when they are eligible for reinstatement of their license they could only buy government issued Chevettes, Horizons or equivalent four cylinder slugs.
    1. DaveN-1490 posted on 10/31/2012 08:37 PM
      @Lorne Corbett I have another idea....How about after fines, community work, and when they are eligible to drive again, instead of Chevettes and Horizons, it would be a bus pass....One year. ...Paid for by them....After that, they may graduate to a scooter....The scooter will need to have a governor on it....30K ....As I would hate to see them feel they beat the system.... Also paid for by them....After that, they could graduate to one of these classic rides....
  8. Scott posted on 10/30/2012 06:54 PM
    We should just outlaw cars because every body is frustrated trying to go any where with a light every 3 blocks and all of our main arteries congested with construction . The city of Edmonton planning department should be doing a better job of anticipating growth as we are a city not some small town and should be built accordingly.
  9. Steve Philip posted on 10/30/2012 07:03 PM
    Simplist solution, more police presence on the roads. I put on lots of highway miles but rarely see any policing on the roads, but see lots of dangerous driving.
  10. bruce posted on 10/30/2012 07:18 PM
    Provinces are sueing tobacco for healthcare costs so why not sue car manufacturers for speeding related accidents.Why make vehicles that go 240km.We all know that once you're addicted to speeding its hard to stop.If drunk drivers can get off because they're mentally responsible, then so should speeders.
  11. KC posted on 10/30/2012 10:24 PM
    Why not set highways up similar to the Autobahn. One lane for those that want to travel fast and leave the other for those that want to travel slower. Driving slow in the fast lane guarantees you a fine. Interestingly, statistics show the annual fatality rate is lower than that of other countries' highway systems.
  12. Glen S.R. Woytuck posted on 10/31/2012 12:01 AM
    As someone who spent most of my life as a professional driver (School bus, taxi, P&D, etc.), and someone who now dispatches the tow trucks to clean up the carnage, I think I know the solutions.
    FIRST: Get rid of photo radar. It only stops poor people from speeding, those who can afford the tickets ignore it. Stratchona County did the math, and could get more officers on patrol if they ditched the photo radar. It is not cost-effective. (Or even effective.)
    SECOND: Get touigh. Big demerits for big speed, vehicle seizures, perhaps you go back to a GDL when you get your licence back after a speed/alcohol suspension. (Maybe mandatory governors for habitual speeders...)
    THIRD: and most important, more enforcement on the road.

    I have for many years advocated for undercover driver-examiners; Licences examiners with the right to pull ANYONE over that they see breaking the law, but instead of issuing a ticket, they make the driver take a road test ON THE SPOT.
    I have always thought that being able to study/practice for a test breeds incompetence. Knowing that you could be required to pass at any time would keep you on your toes. Besides, any driver that cannot pass a test on a moment's notice should not be behind the wheel.
  13. Keith posted on 10/31/2012 01:34 PM This comment was edited by a moderator at 03:38 AM on 11/01/2012
    Bob we have all heard of Grey Power insurance what a concept rewarded for safe driving! How about surrendering a drivers abstract every year for insurance no speeding ticket's get a discount, speeding tickets get a surcharge to offset the cost of discounts for safe drivers, then see drivers slow down!

    Bobb replies: Does Foto radar show up on your driver's license?
  14. Susan posted on 10/31/2012 02:35 PM
    Bob have you ever went over the speed limit? Has your speeding ever caused an accident? Have you jeopardized someones life because of the speed you were traveling and I'm not talking about real excessive speed, 10 - 20 kilometers over the speed limit (on a highway that is). What I find more dangerous and rude, is when you are driving on lets say QE2 highway and you get into the passing lane to pass a vehicle, then someone comes up behind you so fast and so close that there is no room or response time for error, maybe because they are too "lazy" to take off their cruise control. Tailgating is also a hazardous driving habit. OR the person meeting you or right behind you cannot be bothered or are too lazy to dim their lights, I find that a driving hazard as well. OR on a two lane highway where because of a need to maintain your speed you pass when you really shouldn't, and once they have passed the vehicle they cut in right in front of you and if there is a rock it hits your windshield (cracks it or worse) or if it is a snow covered highway and the person they have passed, their visibility is nil. OR when the weather is bad, people still expect to speed instead of driving accordingly.. I feel some of these types of driving habits are more hazardous than just speed.
  15. Tace Roteliuk posted on 11/07/2012 09:18 AM This comment was edited by a moderator at 10:31 AM on 11/07/2012
    Driving is a privilege, not a right. Why do we as a society allow people to have drivers licenses when they've shown time after time that they are incapable of handling a motor vehicle responsibly. Why, when someone has committed a major violation in a vehicle are they given back their license until the court date? And worst of all... how many of these people (ticking time bombs) are out there on the roads right now. When does it become OK to tell someone you can never drive again in your life.


    I know someone right now who has had their license pulled multiple times due to drunk driving. Someone who is currently pending charges and possibly jail time for the latest offense, and guess what: He was given his license to drive until the court date. How is this fair to the rest of the population. Why is he being given the chance to hurt someone after his past track record proves he will not change his attitude about his responsibilities behind the wheel. At what point does someone (family, friends, legal system) stand up and say no to people like him. This fellow who just killed an 11 year old child because he wanted to have his freedom through driving should not have had his license.



    Who do we need to talk to, to have this very obvious flaw in our legal systems changed. Which doctors are signing off to give people with serious and unpredictable medical conditions licenses. Which judges are handing back licenses to people who are bound to hurt themselves or someone else eventually. I am sure this is not the first time people have been injured or killed because of habitual bad drivers or known medical ailments. It should not take someone dying before people sit up and say this is not OK.


    I have contacted my local MLA and MP over this issue, with very little success. I firmly believe the laws need to be changed so that they actually protect the average citizen and not the person who should have lost his or her license
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