VDOT Actually Takes Steps to Improve Traffic Safety; VA DMV and State Troopers Expected to Protest

Here's an interesting approach to safety: VDOT has started painting zig-zagged lines on roads in congested areas in the hopes of slowing down drivers. When I first read that I thought it was probably a waste of money like most governmental expenditures. But then I discovered that there was actually scientific evidence behind this.

In the UK and Australia they have tried the zig zag method. Apparently it works at decreasing accidents. This is what we call the scientific method. I just call it common sense. I can only imagine the reaction of the criminal justice system. Surely they fought this tooth and nail. Less accidents and speeding = less revenue for the cops, courts, and Commonwealth's DMV. Their proposed solution to speeding is to write tickets and cite speeders, many of whom are charged with reckless driving.

Their only tool is a hammer. When you only know how to solve problems with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. But we are not nails, we are human beings. The drivers of Virginia deserve to be treated as people who can make mistakes rather than subjects of the state's hammering power.

Possibly the Dumbest Article on Reckless Driving... Ever

It is rare that I see an article of this low calibre railing against the evils of speeding (see screenshot at left). Everybody speeds. Everybody knows they speed. Nobody denies that they have ever violated the speed limit. But AAA has come out with a stroke of disingenuity in the name of safety.

I support highway safety because I want to be safe on the highways. But at the same time I am not naive enough to expect to encounter a world in which the highways are free from risk. Deer run out in the road all the time. As a motorist, I accept the risk that I will hit one and suffer a fatal accident.

At the same time, I believe we should encourage driving at reasonable speeds. We already do that by taxing gasoline, which causes speeders to pay a surcharge not incurred by their more efficient and economical brethren. I do not believe in putting people in cages for driving too fast unless they hurt someone through their negligence. Jail ain't good for anybody. AAA seems to take a different opinion.

This article begins with the unlikely claim "Agressive Driving up 56%". Huh? A 56% increase from when? 1932? The headline seems unlikely at best. Then the article goes on to explain that "As many as 56 percent of deadly vehicle crashes involve one or more unsafe driving behaviors typically associated with aggressive driving...". This is obviously not the same as a 56% increase in aggressive driving.

It is also completely useless. "As many as 56 percent" is language that concedes right off the bat that the "research" behind the article has not produced a reliable figure, but that it is asserted to be no more than 56%. To claim 56% is dishonestly deceitful because it suggests that the research is so accurate as to pinpoint within one percentile exactly how many accidents are caused by "aggressive driving". But the claim is further watered down by the inclusion of weasal words like "typically associated with", which deprives the phrase "aggressive driving" of any definition or significance.

WAVY 10 has surrendered the pretense of journalism in publishing this apprently unedited puff piece designed to benefit AAA. I am ashamed of the quality of this "news article". Ironically, it candidly admits: "However, in the same survey, many individuals reported driving in ways that could be deemed aggressive." I suspect that "many" means most. Certainly most drivers have in fact run afoul of the traffic laws, whether cited or not.

If most drivers admit to the classic "California stop" (what AAA calls "running stop signs ") or the offense of proceeding at 56 in a 55 zone ("speeding", called out by the saints at AAA), then why would an organization for people who drive automobiles take a position that is contrary to the behavior of more than half of its audience?

AAA needs to get off its high horse, quit collaborating with the VA DMV, State Police and General Assembly, and start representing drivers. Safety is important. But severely punishing people who are victims of bad luck isn't an efficient way of accomplishing that goal. Write your elected representatives and let them know that reckless driving should not be a crime resulting in a permanent criminal record, and that the pockets of average motorists are not a statistical portion of the Commonwealth's treasury.

Virginia Called Out in the Washington Times for Latest Reckless Driving Scam

Just when you thought Virginia had learned a lesson in becoming unpopular by gouging the people, they have taken to the highways anew like robbers of ancient times to waylay travellers to relieve them of their valuables. Yes, Virginia has stepped in it again.

Remember the "abusive driver fees" a/k/a enhanced civil forfeitures that the General Assembly enacted back in '07? They were so incredibly unpopular that the politicians immediately repealed and refunded the onerous fees for fear of being run out of office.

Problem was, that left them with a little hole in their budget. The intended effect was an additional $385,000,000.00 for the state’s coffers. But the legislature took things a step too far in their attempt to squeeze the golden goose. They applied these new fees to reckless driving by speed, attempting to charge Virginia drivers (but not out of state drivers) an additional $1,050
for driving 81 MPH in a 70 MPH zone, which resulted in a massive public outcry.

In their latest move, VDOT has erected variable speed limit signs that display different speeds at different times. Even if you are used to travelling in a 55 zone, you might find yourself in the same location but subjected to a new speed limit of 35 Miles Per Hour. Result: Reckless Driving charge. Fine: up to $2,500. Jail: up to 12 months. License Suspension: up to 6 months. In a recent editorial in the Washington Times, this was exposed as the latest Virginia speeding ticket scam.

"According to VDOT, the program is designed to tell motorists how fast they should drive to achieve optimum traffic flow. It is not clear how confusion about a speed limit on a highway can help traffic flow smoothly. The more obvious explanation is that variable speed limits are about revenue, and we are sure VDOT will succeed at squeezing lots of money out of drivers with this scam."