We need new rules for road traffic

#326

My Dear Friend of Democracy?

Is this car a weapon?

At least it can be used that way.

We've had terrible experiences in Germany. Men have used these weapons. With different motives. All with the same horrible consequences.

Much has been broadcast, tweeted, and discussed about it.

Worse in number and frequency: When a car becomes a weapon without anyone's intention.

What I mean by that.

Taking part in road traffic is risky. I know that. Many years ago, my uncle died, and years later, his son, both as drivers in a car accident caused by their own fault.

Anyone who takes part in road traffic takes a risk.

Millions do it every day because comparatively little happens. This is primarily due to our own vulnerability. We make sure to stay in our lane because a collision with oncoming traffic would have dire consequences—for others, too. First and foremost, for us, it would be our pain, our lengthy rehabilitation, and our possible death.

It's these worries that keep us sitting almost motionless behind the wheel for hours, paying close attention. In what other situation are we similarly disciplined?

But what if this worry disappears? If cars become heavier, safer, more tank-like? If we, like the actual tank driver, have to pay little attention to the outside world? If we feel increasingly invulnerable? Outside noises at high speeds no longer reach inside. Dolby music blasts through us in warm leather armchairs. What can the others out there do to us? Especially if they're on a bike. Or crossing the street on foot. They would leave a few scratches in the car's paint in a collision.

Well, they might be dead. The risk of this is increasing because, for too long, investments in safety have primarily been directed toward "safety for car buyers" (that's how an unregulated market economy works) and too little toward the safety of those affected by the potential weapon "car" (that's what a regulated market economy can do).

Because these investments aren't happening enough, cars drive through our cities today with hoods so high that even basketball-sized people have no chance in case of a collision. They're not thrown over the two-ton steel mobile block but rolled over by it.

What can we do?

Understand that cars aren't most dangerous when they're deliberately used as weapons, but when those driving them don't know they have one.

And: Don't let us return to a world in which car occupants lived more dangerously and therefore drove more carefully (with today's technology, our uncles and cousins would presumably still be alive). But we must think of new rules. The protection of some must not come at the expense of others. Physical integrity is the most essential right in a democracy. We don't live in one if this right doesn't apply to everyone.

See you in Democracy,

Johannes Eber