According to the article from BBC News, "Irish penalty points system faces criticism in report", it talks about the Irish penalty system ,which is used to penalize ones who breach traffic laws. Moreover, it also recommends the efficient methods that might assist this penalty point not to be quashed.
From my perspective, this issue is one of the most worrisome topic for individuals who are the vehicle ownership. I absolutely agree that Irish punishment gives me a creep because their penalty is more intense than other neighbor's. Thus, there are a lot of arguments about this problem which allow citizens who oppose this system criticizing it, obviously. I am the one who drives a car, so I realize that this is a really concerned issue for my country due to the number of people who break the traffic law. Annually, there are a large figure that illustrates vehicle's accidents, approximately over 40% and I think that this trouble tends to rise up.
The violent penalty perhaps solves this issue. However, it does not mean to fix this problem perfectly as 100%. The another point that is very significant is people's awareness, this helps to support and encourage individuals not to break the law. For instance, a man drives quickly throughout the junction, unfortunately the traffic light turns to red and he cannot stop his car in time, so he crushes a motorcycle. This accident is not going to happen if he has more conscious. Unquestioningly, if this guy drive carefully and slowly, everything is not be like this. His guilty is driving carelessly. In term of his fault, he is definitely penalized by the law.
Reference
Irish penalty points system faces criticism in report. (2014, March 12). BBC News Europe. Retrieved March 14, 2014 from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26542893
I also agree with you that drivers should follow the traffic rules for their safety and avoid to cause an accident in the same time. I normally saw a car hits with a motorcycle at the intersection because drivers come too fast and bikers run their engine too early. if the bikers don't get hurt, they usually ride their vehicle away. A big problem that I still can't figure out is where is the policeman? He should stay at a police booth right? So, I think that law enforcement and legal punishment still need to be improved then they can be get along together.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I thought when I read Wann's post was that the penalties for bad driving should be higher. But then I thought about it a bit more and changed my mind - the penalties are probably already high enough in most countries (I don't know about Thailand), but they are not strictly enough enforced, which is what most of the recommendations are intended to remedy. In Australia, if you do something like run a red light, you can lose your licence immediately.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble is, too many people get special treatment: their penalties are cancelled because of who or what they are, and that's wrong. I was reminded of England where the traffic laws apply to everyone - even Princess Anne, the Queen's daughter, is charged and fined when she drives too fast, as she has had a habit of doing ("Princess Anne fined", 2001).
But the Princess has also had more serious legal problems: she is also the only "senior member of the Royal Family [who] has been convicted of a criminal offence," which resulted from two of her dogs attacking people in public ("Princess Royal Fined", 2002). (Initially, I just remembered that she had a bad driving record, but when I did a quick Google to find a source or two to support that, I discovered the more serious criminal offence - I'm sure the papers loved both! I don't think the reports have hurt her reputation.)
The report that is discussed in Wann's chosen article is mainly concerned that too many people are exempted from punishment for bad driving, for example, because the police have authority to cancel the penalty, and these are the suggested changes. Should people, for example, not be fined because they speed or cross a red light because late for an important business meeting? I don't think so. Should they not be punished because of who they are or who their parents are? Definitely not.
And if police are able to decide to punish or not for clear violations of the law, that encourages corruption. The Irish police might not be acting corruptly, but when bad drivers know the police have the option of pulling them over and then not issuing a fine or other punishment, I think that there must be a temptation to ask for special treatment, and I don't think police should have that power - it should be with the courts to make such judgements after a public trial.
References
Princess Anne fined for speeding. (2001, March 17). BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1218009.stm
Princess Royal fined over dog attack. (2002, November 21). BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2497531.stm
It also reminds of when I almost had a serious accident.
ReplyDeleteI was in a taxi, which had just stopped to let me out. As I opened the door, a motorcycle taxi speeding between the footpath and where the taxi hit the door I'd just opened with force, damaging it and hurting himself.
And the motorcycle guy then thought I should give him 500 Baht to fix his bike! He was in the wrong. He should have lost his licence on the spot, and he should have been fined. I was lucky he had not hit and broken my arm - and I don't think he would have offered to pay the hospital costs if he had hurt me.
The taxi driver was also concerned and wanted compensation from the motorcycle taxi driver, but after I paid my fare, he didn't object to my walking away.
I know the motorcycle taxi riders don't make a lot (or do they? I don't know at all, now that I think about it), but that is not an excuse for them to break laws and endanger other people, such as me, as this guy did. I'm sure he was in the habit of riding up between the footpath and parked cars to get around a little bit faster, and result is more dangerous roads for everyone.
Finally, when I read it again this morning, I also had to wonder about Wann's opening sentence: "Most recently, the proportion of vehicle's accidents has increased dramatically." Is this true? I don't know, but it's certainly not obviously true, and it sounds to me like it might be wrong.
ReplyDeleteIn Australia, the number of traffic accidents today is much lower than when I was a child. In 1975, there were about 27 traffic deaths / 100,000 people, but in 2013 that figure had reduced to a little over 5 deaths from traffic accidents, and the statistics at "List of motor vehicle deaths in Australia by year" (2014), show that the accident rates have consistently declined over the past 40 years.
This is response writing, so it's fine to say what we think, but just as in a discussion in class, if you make factual claim, or any other claim, that some disagree with or think wrong, you might have to support it, and a claim about an increase or decrease in traffic accidents has to be supported with statistics. For Australia at least, the statistics seem to support the opposite of the idea that traffic accidents are increasing: over the past 40 years in Australia, they have fallen dramatically.
But I have no idea what the case is for Thailand, which I presume is the country that Wann had in mind.
Reference
List of motor vehicle deaths in Australia by year. (2014, January 15). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23:26, March 14, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_Australia_by_year&oldid=590777135
Hmmm. Three comments on one post. But one response to Wann's topical and stimulating post led to another, so I just kept writing.
DeleteAnd I've now done my quota of at least two comments daily, so I can move on and think about what killed animals I might eat to satisfy my fleshly lusts today, and thereby cause further killing of animals.
As I mentioned before, I used Wikipedia's Cite this page tool to automatically create the correct reference citation. That page is here.
DeleteI then had to reapply the italics and link using the information in the Comments Notes here.