One way to get past the ‘it will never happen to me’ block to behaviour change around speeding, is to take a long hard look at the facts.
Common sense tells us that the higher the speed a car is going, the more chance there is of an accident.
By international standards, South Africa has high speed limits, so we’re already at a disadvantage. Here’s a comparison: we have same speed limit as the state of Montana, and death rates are at about 22 per 100 000 of population. Then there’s the state of Massachusetts, which has speed limits similar to the UK and just 10% less than ours, and the death rate per 100 000 population is six.
The lesson to be learned is to stay within the limit, and remember that they are set for optimal day time conditions. So when it’s wet or dark, the sensible thing is to drive reasonably slower. The idea is to give yourself enough time to react properly when something does happen.
matthew.marcus@inl.co.za