Would Lower Speed Limits Make Driving Safer?

We featured a post on Sept. 27, 2013 about the myth of ‘Speed Kills’.  We are pleased to introduce another rational voice in the speed limit debate.  In the following podcast, a segment of the CBC radio program The 180, Chris Thompson of the British Columbia organization S.E.N.S.E. – Safety by Education, Not Speed Enforcement, is 100% correct in his assessment.

https://www.cbc.ca/the180/popupaudio.html?clipIds=2419858688  (Sorry but the link is dead. See our update below as to why.)

We could not have summarized it better and hope that any individual or group entertaining lower speed limits listens to this podcast to grasp why we need speed limits posted that reflect MAXIMUM safe speed a driver can do under ideal conditions on a particular section of the road.  And why speed limits need to be marked at realistic levels to reflect normal travel.  (In Ontario most speed limits should be raised by 10 – 20 km/h.  Of course drivers need to be educated that they should drive at lower speed in inclement weather, night-time and congested traffic scenarios.)

And then, given that we have realistic speed limits, we can empower police to enforce them by nabbing violators with the means they use now and with more modern controversial tools such as GPS tracking & photo radar.   Few will object to enforcement of speed limits that are sensible and the vast majority do not exceed.

^{Update – Oct 17, 2022:  The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has taken down the clip so it is no longer available online.  We asked CBC about it:}

• Gdyke
  Oct 5, 2022, 18:33 EDT
  I am trying to find a segment of the CBC radio program The 180 where in 2013 Chris Thompson of the British Columbia organization S.E.N.S.E. – Safety by Education, Not Speed Enforcement was interviewed. The following link once worked, but not now: https://www.cbc.ca/the180/popupaudio.html?clipIds=2419858688
• CBC Audience Services (CBC)
  Oct 13, 2022, 13:17 EDT
  Hello,

  Thank you for your message to the CBC and apologies for our tardy response here.

  Unfortunately, this episode is not available for on demand listening.

  Best wishes,
  Ash
  CBC Audience Services

• Gdyke
  Oct 14, 2022, 12:35 EDT
  Hi Ash,

  Thank you for getting back to me. Although you no longer have that clip online, do you not have it in the CBC archives?

  As a public broadcaster, I would think that CBC does not discard content that has either been created or transcoded in a digital format. In my case, I would like to hear the audio clip that was once posted by CBC in an online podcast. Could that file not be located and sent to me as a mp3 or mp4 attachment?

  I am working on an article about speed safety on our Canadian highways and I know that what was said by Chris Thompson is relevant to the topic today. I would just like to make sure that I am not misquoting what he stated.

  You assistance in locating that clip would be appreciated.

  Yours truly,

  George Dyke
  CITROËNVIE ! http://citroenvie.com/
  647.896.3202
  citroprez@gmail.com

• CBC Audience Services (CBC)
  Oct 14, 2022, 14:38 EDT
  Hello George,

  Thank you for your message.

  We do have an archive sales and licensing team, however please be advised that if we are able to meet this request it will take a number of months to fill, and there will be a fee, starting at $300, to obtain up to an hour of audio content for research purposes only (the material cannot be reproduced or shared).

  With that in mind would you like me to share the form you’ll need to use to reach out to the archive sales and licensing team?

  Appreciate you letting me know,
  Ash
  CBC Audience Services

• Gdyke

  Oct 17, 2022, 14:10 EDT
  Hi Ash,

  I’m afraid the $300 is way beyond my budget for research into one aspect of the article. It amazes me that CBC (a public broadcaster) cannot easily find and share content that was once online and freely accessible.

  As a taxpayer funding the CBC for over 50 years, a response like the one I got from you has me agreeing with Pierre Poilievre that the CBC should be defunded.

• CBC Audience Services (CBC)
  Oct 18, 2022, 12:42 EDT
  Hello George,
   
  For whatever it’s worth, I too was surprised about how hard it is to access previously aired content. It turns out, though, that licensing rights are complicated and the work that it takes to research and provide archives for use is not negligible. In the case of educational and research requests, the fees exists as a cost-recovery strategy.
   
  Best wishes,
  Ash
  CBC Audience Services