Editor:
Re: "Many factors in auto accidents" (Coast Reporter, letters, Feb. 15)
Being a 35-year veteran of the RCMP with 25 years in Traffic Services, I find it hard to believe that anyone can say speed does not kill. I have attended several hundred fatal crashes where speed did kill. Although it is correct that speed is not the only factor in crashes, it is the number one factor in most crashes.
Letter writer Ryan Medd advises bad road design is a factor. However, roads are designed by engineers for the best and safest conditions, and then a speed limit is placed on the road. This limit is set taking into consideration amount of traffic, the terrain it is going through, the skill of the average driver and many other considerations.
Medd also advises "over-driving the conditions" or as "the Motor Vehicle Act words it, too fast for road and weather conditions." If this isn't speeding, what is?
Driving too slowly is a factor. The slow driver very rarely causes a crash. What does cause a crash is an impatient driver behind the slow driver, who decides to pass in an unsafe manner.
Driving beyond one's ability is just another way of saying speeding, and if the public wasn't so intent on speeding, the crashes caused by inattentiveness would not be as much of a factor as they are.
The statement "safety by education not speed enforcement" is wrong and should read "safety by education plus speed enforcement." This would be the best way to educate the public and help stop the speeding and crashes.
The public does need the education on why to stop speeding.
Speed is the number one factor in auto crashes along with impatient drivers, so slow down, drivers!
Bob Nordlund, Gibsons
