Vehicles Have Lost Control for Ages - Essay Example

Vehicles have lost control for ages since the manufacture of the first vehicle, and still do to this very day. The same vehicles are also known to cause the loss of human life because of losing control, the same way they hit people, animals, objects and even barricades in the process of moving from one place to another. What is of major concern is what causes the said vehicles to lose control, get involved in accidents and even cause loss of life. In this case, different factors can be affiliated, where mechanical failure, inexperience of the driver and other unseen factors can be involved, but most important is driving over speed limits and its effects on the above misfortunes. Driving over the speed limit has been affiliated with different events in society, especially with those that cause people to drive in this way. These include drunken driving, where people lose their sense of judgment, and instead do that which they think is correct. Instead, they are misguided into driving recklessly, which includes driving over the speed limit (the Bakersfield Californian). The impact of this drunken driving and exceeding the speed limit more often than not has disastrous effects on all road users, where the driver is included. Drunk driving, which is associated with speeding, is one the main causes of traffic accidents, where deaths and injuries are the most common occurrences (Dhumieres). Conclusive evidence draws the line of relationship between speeding and drunk driving, then to loss of life through judgment impairment. This occurs in that, the thrill of achieving that, which cannot be achieved when one, can discern between right and wrong where achieving great speeds take over the rational part of reasoning. The consequence of being irrational and driving over the speeding is either getting a speeding ticket, a cross on the driving license, or even loss of life for the driver and other road users. Other causes and consequences include hurrying to a destination and attempting to run several errands at the same time. The result is usually reckless driving leading to fatal accidents and damage of property, all in the name of saving time, where no errand is worth the loss of one’s life. Drivers also drive over the speed limit in times of emergencies, where they attempt to access emergency services within the shortest time possible. Despite justifying speeding, possibly to save human life, there are effects to doing so as one remains focused on why he or she is driving, and forgetting everything else. As a result, this endangers other road users and even the drivers themselves due to the high risk of road accidents resultant from speeding. The divided attention is of the highest risk as there is no way the driver can focus on the road and personal issues of an emergency nature. Moreover, because of driving over the speed limit, a high number of punitive measures can be applied, but it all depends on the ability of the authorities and the condition of the drivers. One such way of punish rogue drivers is through the issuance of speeding tickets as the law and traffic acts should label driving in excess speeds as a crime. As a result, the most common is giving of speed tickets, which are forms of fines that do not go easy on the pocket and the overall finances of an individual. In this case, paying the fine given to one in the form of a speeding ticket, shows that the driver pleads guilty and acts as an effective means of punishment. The other way that goes hand in hand with the issuance of speeding tickets is the use of penalties imposed on the same tickets, where a driver driving over the speed limit gets points deducted from his or her driving license. This goes on until the driver loses substantial points to warrant the driver to retake a driver’s test or even loses the license altogether. This is a sufficient measure of eliminating all drivers that are willing to put the lives of other road users at risk with no concern whatsoever about their own safety. In addition, driving over the speed limit under the guise that one is only endangering his or her life should be considered suicidal. For this reason, a driver can be put under counseling or even sent to jail, prison or a psychiatric institution to eliminate the suicidal tendencies. Opponents to this research argue that people tend not to see the wrongdoings of drivers driving over the speed by justifying using statistics. This is by saying that speeding only causes roughly a third of fatal traffic accidents (Massey). What they fail to see is the severity of the accidents that are caused by the accidents, and instead focus on the occurrence of speeding. They also focus on other factors such as error in reaction, which is not wrong, but denies the chance to understand the gravity of speeding. Another common misconception of drivers and over speeding is that some people driver under the speed in protest against the speed limit. This misconception is based on the idea that; the speed limit is usually set too low for the drivers to have the thrill of driving and even make it to their destination in good time. As a result, the speed limit sees them undergo torture just to get to their destination in good time by setting out on their trips and journeys early, where they spend a great deal of time on the road. This is, however, not true as the speed limit exists for the purpose of preserving order and peace on the road, as well as preserving the lives of all road users, where errant drivers are also included. Altogether, driving over the speed limit is caused by different factors, but all of which are selfish and serve to see the fulfillment of destruction. This is the destruction of life, property and even reputation, where tickets are served to speeding drivers and even higher premiums for insurance. In order to end the acts of destruction on roads, punitive measures or even lower speed limits should be set, which would mean that driving over the speed limits puts one in the acceptable range. The suggestion would be a genius way to coerce people by messing around with their thinking; talk of reversed psychology. Works Cited The Bakersfield Californian. Drunk driving suspect leads deputies on high-speed chase through Bakersfield. 2013. Web. 6 Feb. 2013. < http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/breaking-news/x837003470/Drunk-driving-suspect-leads-deputies-on-high-speed-chase-through-Bakersfield > Dhumieres, Marie. Speeding, drunk driving main causes of road accidents. The Daily Star. 2011. Web. 6 Feb. 2013. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/Dec-03/155919-speeding-drunk-driving-main-causes-of-road-accidents.ashx#axzz2K83oCJjm Massey, Ray. Speeding drivers cause only 3% of car accidents, figures reveal. MailOnline. 2008. Web. 6 Feb. 2013. Read More