Quote:
Originally Posted by cellsafemode
my way actually has measurable affect on people who would otherwise do the activity. Your way does not.
Either i'm right and stricter laws impacted this issue or you're right and we're all just much more ethically sound and better decision makers as a country than we were in 1985.
https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/f...paired-driving
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...us-since-1988/
It's not like we as a country are drinking less (roughly the same per capita) or driving less. What changed? the law and enforcement of it did. |
There are a few factors that you overlooked:
- the first article mentioned the fatalities, not the number of incidents. Remember that even a tiny car like Chevy Spark nowadays will hold up WAY better than any car from the 80s in a crash. That will also decrease the fatalities caused by impaired driving.
- the Internet also makes spreading a message a lot easier than back in the 80's and 90's. Media outlets have also changed quite a bit.
IMO stricter laws work... Up to a certain point. After that, it's diminishing returns at best. At worst, it backfires or people start pushing back. There are so many examples to show my point:
- the alcohol ban in the 30's. We all know how that went. Rich people didn't give a flip and just smuggled alcohol - which cost pocket change to slightly more pocket change to them. The working class took their chances and started drinking fake alcohol, some of which was made with methanol which killed them. Nothing changed, but you had more people die from drinking fake alcohol. Rich people are pretty much always above the law anyway. They have an army of lawyers that will find any loopholes in the law.
- the legalization of marijuana in Canada. I remember the amount of fear mongering from some communities to which I scoffed and predicted that nothing will change. I don't smoke pot, and legalization of it doesn't mean that I will automatically just rush into a pot store and buy a crap load. People who smoke pot will continue to do so. You are only really making a small difference to that small crowd that's "on the edge." Of course, the financial aspect isn't going as well as the federal government is expecting, but the main point is that I don't see much of a change from how things are functioning in our society.
- and speeding. It's one of those things that doesn't get reinforced as strictly, and yet, most people drive at a speed that's considered safe and reasonable. Look up Solomon curve. You will always have your Toyota drivers that drive way too slowly and teens being stupid doesn't matter how you set the speed limit or change the repercussions. Most people are simply trying to get a balance of getting to a place at a reasonable speed while making sure they do make it there in one piece.
The sad thing is, media will probably make a big deal out of incidents like this and then try to paint your average commuters that go 10 MPH over the speed limit the same as this one Camaro guy and thousands of Mustangs out there.