Raise the Hammer

Last week, I spent more time than usual driving. I was chauffeur to my father for medical appointments. By Friday, I'd been reminded of a truth, and mentioned it to my father. (He's a hard-core driver, and as a senior, defines his independence by his ability to drive his relic.)

I expressed to him that even as a passionate pedestrian (in Toronto I would routinely walk from Union Station to Bloor and beyond), even with as much disdain as I feel for the very notion of cars and their place in our world (Ask Ryan about this. Go on; I dare ya...), I had to admit that when I'm behind the wheel...something takes over. It's a quantum shift in mindset, it's like a variation on the Jekyll and Hyde syndrome. Don't get me wrong; I'm a very conscientious driver (I have to be; to have an accident or even a 'problem' with my dad's vehicle is potentially catastrophic), when I drive, that's all I do, there's no cell phones, there's no iPods...there's not even a working radio on in the car. But I want to get where I want to go, I want to do it safely...but I WANT TO GET THERE. NOW.

So to a great extent, I'm a prime example of how the system limits how a driver (and their car) behaves. The thoroughfare known as Main Street allows, when the Lights Gods permit, a very steady speed, consistent progress from one end of the city to the other. If it didn't? If the prime function wasn't to effect this result as efficiently as possible?

I'd drive slower.

EVERYTHING would go slower.

And I'd adjust.

As would everyone else.

My point?

I've often wondered what the result would be if all speed limits were abolished. Everywhere. How fast would people go? On any given street? Logic says that some semblance of 'common sense' would kick in...for most of us.

The truth is that we need limits on our behaviour when devices such as cars are concerned. And it's up to Those In Power to craft these limits, these laws according to the agreed-upon goals.

Which is why we see the traffic patterns and habits that we do in Hamilton. Because someone decided at various points that these were the goals, this was how we were going to reach them.

Want a different environment, as Michelle suggests in her penultimate paragraph? It might not be easy, but the answer is simple: we need to change our goals. (Don't change the goals? Then nothing will change.)

Um...it's called a shift in our value system. (Yup, that's me; the Endless Broken Record.)