Editor:

Re: “Many factors in auto accidents” (Coast Reporter, letters, Feb. 15)

Perhaps, one might be able to make an argument that speed alone does not kill. However, according to the U.K. Department of Transportation, a pedestrian’s chance of death if hit by a motor vehicle increases with the speed of the vehicle: 15 per cent at 32 km/h, 45 per cent at 50km/hr, 85 per cent at 65 km/hr.

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that speed humps were associated with a more than 50 per cent reduction in the odds of injury or death among children struck by an automobile in their neighbourhood. If speed doesn’t kill, it certainly helps.

Groups like SENSE that expound “motorists’ rights” would do well to consider the rights of those whose communities they are driving through. Surely these rights (safety, health, outdoor play) supersede the right to go fast, if indeed such a thing exists.

Kudos to John Hird and the Speedwatch team. They are an important part of our coastal traffic safety picture, which clearly needs to involve education, as well as engineering and enforcement.

Mark Lebbell

Transportation Choices (TraC)