Why This Report On Speeding Is Sadder Than The World Cup

The Tournament of Sadness

On Buzzfeed, the 2014 World Cup is referred to as the tournament of sadness; but what is even sadder is the recent report that speeding-related deaths have increased over the last year. In fact, speeding is the leading cause of vehicular deaths than distracted or impaired driving. Of the 113 deaths so far this year on Ontario roadways, speed was a factor in 33 of those cases. Incidentally, distracted driving is in second place at 24 fatalities, with impaired driving making up less than 10%. According to OPP, in 2013 officers doled out approximately 300,000 speeding charges, with about 1% of them involving the motorist driving 50 km/h or more over the speed limit. 

Who's to blame for these deaths? Speeders? Roads? Vehicles? Those who set the limits on the various roads? Is speeding the only reason why these deaths occurred, or are the factors much more complex than that? 

Have Modern Vehicles Overwhelmed Human Biology?

In an opinion column for NewScientist, Frank McKenna maintains that while our modern vehicles have indeed evolved into faster, more accurate machines, our human bodies have not, which leaves a significant gap between the mechanical performance of ever-faster vehicles and the biological limits of the human body particularly our reflexes that impede our ability to react to a faster vehicle, and our skeletal make-up in withstanding impacts at higher speeds. When we run full speed, every part of our body is honed in on that act: our heart is pumping, we feel the wind in our face, and this incredible experience of movement that is pushing our strained bodies through space and time. Contrarily, in a vehicle, the only bodily pressure we feel is from our large toe on the gas peddle, and yet we are easily traveling at speeds 4-5 times faster than what our bodies have been designed for. There is in such cases very little feedback: we do not feel strain or the wind in our faces; in fact, other cues that would point to faster speed, such as engine strain, has been eliminated from modern vehicles. Not to mention that we really feel no movement at all compared to running at 30 km/h. 

Author Douglas Rushkoff On Present Shock--When The World Moves Too Fast

Present Shock As Driver Of Speeding Fatalities

There is another factor that contributes to such speed related deaths other than simply speeders: We are living in a world driven by technology that is becoming smarter and faster everyday. Our technological world is thus creating daily conditions in which we expect everything to move faster, to be downloaded faster. Our expectations of the amount of work that ought to be completed has been skewed by the continuous increase of technological intelligence. This too, in support of Frank McKenna's observations about the speed of cars, overwhelms our biological limitations. We are not designed to move, think, meet, complete tasks, communicate so fast--and the trouble is, technology is only moving faster. This, according to Douglas Rushkoff, is called "Present Shock," that is, when the present moves so fast, we are shocked by it and cannot get a clear handle on it. We are no longer overwhelmed by future states, but the present moment by it's sheer complexity and change overwhelms us. Such social and cultural conditions play a tremendous role in our need for speed; and our automobiles become not only an extension of our present shock, but of an entire world being dragged behind by technology run amok; as if our vehicles are a symbol for our inability to keep up with the shock of the now. 

Now this will eventually remedy itself once we transition fully to self-driving vehicles (in fact, such statistics on speeding and death indeed further warrant such a transition) whose speed will be controlled by the vehicle itself; but for the interim, we need to individually allow the knowledge of these statistics to encourage us to change our behaviour.

Can We Not Slow Down?

How do we stop it? We have to start at the level of our individual selves: try to slow down, limit technology, and learn to drive slower. If speeding fatalities is such an issue, then our legislators need to be petitioned to lower the speed limits, otherwise such articles as that referenced in this entry is just a whack of blown smoke, and no use to anybody.