Education works. If you highlight bad behaviour, people will change their ways. Or perhaps not.
On my daily commute I pass one of those bright flashing signs that tell you how fast you are driving, just in case your speedometer isn't working. And almost every day it displays the speed of passing cars and, in the off chance that their speed has picked up just a little higher than the limit it is politely suggested that they *SLOW DOWN*. How do I know? Because I see it almost every day.
I'm not sure whether drivers just don't see it or they choose to ignore it but I suspect the latter. The fact that the same *SLOW DOWN* message is displayed so frequently indicates that the message has negligible impact. I'm sure if it was replaced with a GATSO speed camera more drivers would sit up, pay attention and slow down.
But then the big motoring organisations and car users would campaign to remove it: it's just a revenue generating cash cow. As past campaigns in parts of the national media have argued, it's just not fair to criminalise fine upstanding law abiding citizens who inadvertently omitted to stop breaking the law on approach to the camera.
This is another reason being nice won't make the roads a safer place. Without enforcement of the rules of the road, as defined in the Highway Code and legislation, many people will continue to flout the rules and in so doing, placing vulnerable road users at risk.
This post has been inspired by the Niceway Code campaign which appears to link poor driving to poor cycling skills hence if more cyclists stop at red lights fewer drivers will run over pedestrians or cyclists.
Follow Niceway Code on Twitter: @nicewaycode
