Deaths and Injuries ...
Whilst statistics are depicted here indicating deaths and
injuries probably attributable to blinding lights, fundamentally
it is morally wrong for one set of well protected traffic
participants cocooned in airbag padded steel safety cages to
attempt to gain a safety advantage at the expense of less
conspicuous more vulnerable road users - or to expect people to jump out of
their way!
Deliberately blinding drivers creates an aggression that cannot be estimated by "traffic experts" resulting in a poor frame of mind hence increased accidents. Similar intangible factors are probably the reason that the introduction of the European seat belt laws did not achieve the full benefits predicted by "traffic experts". As with ABS and airbags, studies found drivers drove faster due to Risk Compensation.
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Road deaths from 40 Countries Data Source: OECD annual safety report 2017 The OECD IRTAD say the increase is due to increased vehicle miles but surely as cars have more and more safety features the death tool should not be rising. |
Deliberately blinding drivers creates an aggression that cannot be estimated by "traffic experts" resulting in a poor frame of mind hence increased accidents. Similar intangible factors are probably the reason that the introduction of the European seat belt laws did not achieve the full benefits predicted by "traffic experts". As with ABS and airbags, studies found drivers drove faster due to Risk Compensation.
The 732 Members of the European Parliament were duped into voting for Daytime Running Lights (DRL) by flawed academic reports. Crucially, in August 2008 just before a vote was due Dr. Fred Wegman Director of Research Institute SWOV (now Chairman of OECD IRTAD) issued a SWOV Factsheet on Daytime Running Lights which stated:
− fatal crashes: a reduction of 15%
− severe injury crashes: a reduction of 10%
− slight injury crashes: a reduction of 5%
Marcin Gorkowski
Chairman of the
UNECE WP 29 signalling and lighting group (who set global vehicle
standards),
EU ex
Vice President Guenter Verheugen,
Dr. Fred Wegman of
SWOV
, and
Mike Penning UK deputy Transport Minister
have ignored warnings of the fatal consequences of deliberately blinding
drivers with light, the tragic reality are extra deaths and injuries:-− severe injury crashes: a reduction of 10%
− slight injury crashes: a reduction of 5%
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