Blame for "accidents" (Blog post no. 300)

[Martin Cassini]

So seamless is the improperganda purveyed by road safety "experts", that it can produce these remarks in today’s Guardian about the road death of a child: "The victims and perpetrators in an accident are two parts of a whole," writes surviving sister, Kira Cochrane. "The dearth of communication [from the driver] was a wicked, vexed lacuna." No, the wickedness is the failure of the authorities to promote a culture of equality, and their failure to design roads in a way that stimulates sociable conduct. The lacuna is their failure to own up to their grotesque role in supporting a system which sets the stage for lethal conflict, makes road intrinsically dangerous for the vulnerable, and "causes untold injustice and harm". The Guardian piece features ‘Half a Life’, by Darin Strauss (also in last week’s Observer), who had a fatal collision with a teen on a bicycle but was "guiltless" because she had turned in front of him, and he wasn’t exceeding the 40mph speed limit. (That’s how useful speed limits are to the needs of the moment.) Ever since, Strauss has lived a half-life, consumed by guilt. The rules of the road make victims of us all. As Kenneth Todd wrote in a different but related context, "There is something inhumane about a system which instils greater respect for a traffic light than for human life."