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.
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