Driving isn’t a right it’s a privilege

I’ve always thought it was fascinating, that drivers caught breaking the law with a vehicle to such an extent that disqualification of their license is the suitable punishment, can use the fact that they need their license for work as a justification for appeal. I find it even more fascinating that drivers avoid the penalty on these grounds.

Well in the UK this week we have outdone ourselves. A police officer in an unmarked police car was caught doing twice the speed limit in a built up area (speed limit 30) and later a staggering 151 mph on a motorway.

Apparantly this case has dragged on for a bit so the judge decided to waive a penalty because the driver had “already been through quite a lot”. 151 mph! And his defense was that he was practicing his high speed driving skills. On a public road, gee, thanks for that.
It’s about time we figured out that driving is not a right. This guy should have been banned for life.

The spirit of the law

I’m a keen cyclist. For those interested, my current steed is a four year old Cannondale CAAD5 (R600), for those who aren’t its a road bike, what we used to call a racer (back in the day).

I ride most lunch times, as getting away from your desk when you work from home is critical, and well, hey I enjoy it. Most days I’ll put in about 10-15 miles around the outskirts of the city where I live. I ride on the road, well for the most part, and this brings me to the crux of this post.

This afternoon, as I always do, I crossed the road onto a footpath for 50 yards that leads to a canal path. At this point in my ride I’m starting my warm down, so I’m riding at a slow pace. There is a bus stop on this 50 yards of footpath and today there were two women with a child in a pram and another small child on foot. So I slowed to a walking pace, unclicked a foot from one cleat and asked “excuse me” to get past. The first woman says “oh sorry”, and I say “not at all”, smile and roll past them at less than walking pace.

The other woman snarled at me “bikes are for the road”. I’ve stopped and said “excuse me”, and she repeats “bikes are for the road”. Now after giving her a polite explanation of the fact that I had stopped so I was unlikely to hit any of them and hence avoid her purile threat to sue me (???), I eventually road off again at my slow pace, but it did get me thinking.

Technically and to the letter of the law I was violating the Traffic Code, but in the spirit of the law I was acting in a manner contrary to the reason the law was there is the first place. Now I have first hand experience of this as my other half had her wrist broken by a cyclist who barreling along a foot path and collected her as she stepped out from a shop doorway.

That guy was an idiot and had no regard for anyones personal safety, including his own. I’m not. I don’t jump red lights. I don’t swerve in and out of cars parked or otherwise. In short I’m a responsible rider and where there is any doubt I take the option which is least risky.

So I ask, do we have laws in the first place because the majority of people can’t think, won’t think or are just to stupid to see the consequences of their actions? I would like to think not.