At the end of the day the thing I keep coming back to is the binary nature of it all. And my problem with that is life isn’t binary.
I’ve been stopped twice for speeding. Both times I was speeding, there’s no doubt about that. Both times on motorways. Once I was driving under 90mph and the other, well, it wasn’t under 90mph. One time I got a ticket and points, the other I didn’t. The binary approach would be that on both occasions I broke the rules and the consequence should have been the same both times.
But life isn’t binary is it? It’s much more complicated than that. What road was it? What time of day? What were the weather conditions? What were the traffic conditions? What side of bed did the copper get out of that morning? Was I remorseful and contrite or did I act like a bore?
Now you might argue that it should be binary, that none of those issues should over-ride the fact that I broke the rules. But in the end what any system of rules comes down to are two things. Firstly, are they enforceable? And secondly, the connected issue of do they change the motivations of those involved (or if you’re not happy with the idea of motivations then does the system change behaviours when no-one is looking).
The last set of statistics from before the pandemic show that in free flow conditions around half of motorway users exceeded the speed limit with a similar number doing so on 30mph roads. Only on single carriageway national speed limit roads is the compliance higher (only 10% speeding) reflecting the more difficult conditions inherent in driving on these roads. So perhaps in most cases drivers are changing their behaviours in response to the conditions they are driving in. Essentially though, speed limits and their enforcement, the binary rules, do not seem to be the determinant in changing the underlying behaviour of the drivers; they are responding to the conditions on the roads to do that themselves, with presumably the motivation of driving as safely as possible.
So perhaps the best way to change behaviours is to change the environment within which we see undesirable behaviours. Speed limits and enforcement seem to be less effective than rumble strips, chevrons and intelligent signage. Changing the environment helps change behaviours, even when no one is looking. Such passive nudges are always there, unlike the traffic cop with their ticket book.
Distant Ramblings on the Horizon 