Enough is ENOUGH. Hold Drivers Accountable!

A quick check of the statistics reveals that in 2012 84.38 per day people perished in automobile related traffic incidents in the United States.  There were 33,561 incidents that resulted in death.  Over 16,000 of the drivers died.  726 cyclists were killed that year from these events.  Most people call theses events "accidents."  Other than seat belt laws, lowering BAC amounts and a minor increase in speeding tickets and Federal regulations calling for "safer" cars in wrecks, little or nothing has been done to stop this bloodshed.  Instead another round of "blame the victim" has begun.  National Highway Traffic Stats

The State of Wyoming has legislation that would require all bicyclists to wear 200" of neon reflective clothing.  Wyoming Blames the Victims While many cyclist around the world do this, and I myself do this, it is a mere attempt to fix a problem with a small bandage and does not address the real problem.  The funny thing is, how many cyclist have been killed in Wyoming?  In 2010 there were 155 traffic fatalities.  ZERO BIKERS WERE KILLED No Cyclists Kill In Wyoming  77 bicyclist were counted as injured or involved in traffic crashes in 2013 2013 Stats page 12  Still ZERO deaths in 2013.  Nice PDF, Wyoming, in that area you RAWK!!

Bad drivers are the problem.  They need to be held accountable.  How does one do this?  Deterence through State Sanction.  Raise the fines.  Here are a few ideas.

1.  Significantly raise the consequences for speeding violations.  $2000 fine for first offense and 24 hours in jail.  $10,000 for second offense and 3 days in jail  $30,000 for 3rd offense and 1 month in jail.  Clean slate every 3 years.  Speeding is a major cause of all wrecks and fatalities.  Speed Kills

2.  Increase consequences for those found to cause wrecks, property damage and death.  Fail to prevent your vehicle from hitting someone else's or damaging someones property or worse yet killing a human life then expect to pay the price.  Prison, long suspension from driving, confiscation of vehicle, hefty fines and victim restituion.  No more slap on the wrists and pat on the backs and back on the road.

Sure, these seem severe.  But these proposals are designed to make all vehicle operators more aware of what havoc they wreak on society.  And perhaps the hammer of the State will cause them to review their driving habits and save lives and prevent property damage.

It is time we take our streets back.