Big, bad brother

Mike’s
Pith & Wind cont.
..without advertising their presence to the hapless motorists gliding below.
I’m not absolutely sure what the thinking is – I’m pretty sure the
traffic would more obediently slow down if the cameras’ presence was advertised,
because I’ve seen this working in Auckland, and I believe it operates
this way in the UK – so, it’s hard not to come to the conclusion
that revenue must be at least a factor.
I’m getting an uneasy feeling that this sort of mentality is directly
or indirectly related to the introduction of State backed casinos and pokies
– I don’t believe it’s a coincidence the term ‘gambling’
has been euthanased in favour of ‘gaming’. (Incidentally, I’m
almost waxing nostalgic for the old gambling dens that were run by colourful
criminals – they were more exciting and at least you knew who the bad
guys were).
The same hidden, unblinking eye of the camera that records shady transactions
in the Casino’s carparks, also records the slightest deviation over the
prescribed speed limit on a given few metres of road, (not forgetting the elapsed
time cameras, which estimate your average driving speed between checkpoints).
Otherwise steadfast and reliable citizens are left shaking with impotent rage
at the sheer stupidity of it all, and you have a growing section of the community
feeling that they’ve been categorised as criminal sociopaths merely because
they’ve strayed over some arbitrary limit at some arbitrary point .
The government has attempted to prop up this pointless harrassment with a ‘scientific’
TV campaign describing the difference an extra five kph can make at the point
of impact in an accident.
So? Most of the populace would consider that avoiding accidents altogether by
driving responsibly is preferable to constantly scrutinising your speedometer
to check whether you’ve drifted a couple of kph over the limit.
Last weekend we drove down our spanking, newish highway to Sleepy Hollow (Geelong)
and what did we encounter? The unedifying spectacle of an inpenetrable phalanx
of cars occupying all four lanes and travelling at an identical speed with no
apparent fast or slow lanes.
I could give you a few reasons why this is not necessarily the safest option,
but let’s go to Europe and check out an alternative.
The German autobahn is scarcely new, and you can tell, because it’s only
got two lanes; one lane where you conform to a suggested speed limit, the other
lane where you can drive as fast as you like. I repeat – as fast as you
like. It works rather well too, with the hidden advantage that if you come to
grief at 230kph, you die. No maimed people draining the public purse for the
rest of their misreable lives.
Any attempt to curtail this arrangement would be fiercely resisted by the Germans
– as a matter of fact, visiting Europeans are often shocked by the amount of
governmental intrusion we Aussie battlers are subjected to in general, but on
our roads in particular. I recently heard of a Spaniard heading for the airport
and being outraged that he was pulled over (with everybody else) to be breath
tested. So, he plainly wasn’t intending to be at the airport three hours
before departure, but you can understand his point.
The best advice I’ve heard about safe driving was given to us when we
were pulled over by a cycle cop on the way to Las Vegas. This amiable cop suggested
the traffic plane flying overhead (Pigs In Space) wouldn’t have bothered
with us had we been driving at the same pace as the rest of the traffic. No
pedantic insistence that we should’ve been driving at exactly 50 mph,
just at about the same rate as the rest of the traffic. (We weren’t).
Once the government took over the criminal enterprise of gambling, the writing
was on the wall. Every activity can be monitored, arbitrary limits set and revenue
raked in. In the case of government involvement in gambling, the churches were
right, but it seems they’ve since been bought off with a few silver pieces
and the pulpits have been silenced. One can imagine that when the mineral boom
is over, we’re going to see something very nasty emerging from the woodshed..