Comment 119778

By fmurray (registered) | Posted August 05, 2016 at 18:16:02

There is another factor on the "behaviour" side of speeding and that is societal pressure. My confession: I used to have a lead foot. I was one of those people who felt my driving was completely safe, but I drove fast. A big factor in creating that behaviour was the fact that I was always under pressure. Perhaps it was self-induced, but consider for a moment what it's like to be a working parent living 30-40 minutes from your work-place. Being held up for a couple of minutes at work meant possibly being late to pick up your child from day care. Add to that dentist appointments, etc. and what you get is high stress -- always feeling like you're 10 minutes behind and people are going to be pissed at you for being late.

Now I live close to work, my daughter is an adult, and I just don't get that feeling of stress anymore. I drive sloowly - 40 km or less on side streets and never over 50 on Main. Except....when I had an evening meeting in Winona, and I was running late. I could feel that pressure again and my brain was telling my foot to press harder on the accelerator. Luckily, I've become conscious of my speed when I drive and I've also learned that being late is not the worst thing in the world. I choose to drive calmly and defensively no matter what.

We need to teach our children that punctuality is over-rated. Yes, you should always try to be on time, respecting other people and their schedules, but if you are late there are worse things. Much worse -- like driving aggressively and rudely through other neighbourhoods.

Perhaps this is a bit pie-in-the-sky, but the world is not slowing down. Pressure on working parents is horrendous and is, I believe, another factor in speeding.

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