All The Hallmarks

Of another drive by governments to further insert itself into our lives.

t is estimated that road traffic crashes cause 1.2 million deaths every year, including those of 1,000 young people every day.

Each week 70 children are killed or seriously injured in the UK.

Mr Blair made his remarks in a video statement for UN global road safety week in London.

He said: "Every minute of every day a child is killed or seriously injured on the world's roads. [emphasis added]

"Road crashes are the second leading cause of death for young men after HIV/Aids, and in some African countries more than 70% of those killed on the roads are young breadwinners.

"It is becoming clear that road injury has a serious impact on the wider development goals we are all trying to achieve."

Mr Schumacher said: "Road crashes kill on the scale of malaria or tuberculosis, yet the international community has not woken up to this horrific waste of life.

"That is why I strongly support the Make Roads Safe campaign and the proposal that the United Nations organise a first ever UN ministerial conference to tackle this preventable loss of life."

Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation and a co-ordinator of the Make Roads Safe campaign, said that half of all children killed or seriously injured on the roads in England come from deprived areas.

"The road safety community in the UK is united behind the call for a UN global ministerial conference to give urgently-needed direction to road injury prevention."

Source: BBC – Blair and Schumacher in road plea Oh-oh, when politicians start saying it's for the children I shudder, because when many people hear that phrase they shut down their critical thinking. Then there is the political equivalent of the triple-dog-dare: ...half of all children killed or seriously injured on the roads in England come from deprived areas. [emphasis added]. So, not only are the children affected but more so poor children. Oh-oh, hold onto your wallets & freedoms tightly people the road is about to get real bumpy. What a torporific statement that is. I am sure it will only be months now we start hearing commercials alongside global warming and second hand smoke hysteria laden with just as much junk science and calls to immediate (before it's too late) action.

You know, I have driven in places where driving was more dangerous. I spent time in the Middle East and the driving climate there was not all together great. It improved my defensive driving skills markedly. The solution, is not a YAUNCOM (Yet Another UN Commission), but the nations enforcing their traffic laws.

In the nation I was in no one got pulled over for a traffic violation. If you were caught speeding you were not stopped by the officer at the side of the road and issued a ticket with a court date. No, when you registered your car for the next year you went and checked with the traffic police if you had any tickets you had to pay for. Of course, I usually went without tickets but I did have a couple years with tickets.

The problem is there is no immediate feedback. The problem is locals could often get tickets fixed for them and another problem was the person at fault in a traffic accident often had little to do with justice and more with a battle of whose wasta was stronger.