Social and economic cost of speeding

What are we doing speeding? I just read this: NSW motorists are losing their licences at a record rate of 110 a day, because of accumulated traffic and speeding fines. If petrol prices are hurting, as our media and politicians tell us daily, why are we speeding? Wouldn't it make sense to slow down and save fuel? Hmmm. Maybe fuel remains too cheap?

Anyway, according to that report "the proliferation of speed cameras is blamed for the surge in suspensions", so it's not the drivers' fault, it's just that we are catching more speeding drivers. Ah-ha. They are not in control sufficiently to actually obey the law, apparently, or were distracted by their MP3 player, their cell phone or their passengers. Or they just didn't see the camera. Or they deliberately and consciously law-break by habit. Or whatever.

But wait, there's more. "Peak motoring group NRMA says the rising rate of licence suspension was also a threat to economic productivity, with a recent survey of business showing 23 per cent had workers who were currently off the road." Wow, who cares about the lives that are impacted by suspended licences, it's the economic consequence that matters. Is the NRMA for real, or simply misquoted?

In any case 23% sounds absurbly high and we don't know the sample size or error, but it could just be one person in each firm (how can we know?); so the economic impact is not actually revealed usefully by that stat at all. It looks big but is actually a rubbish number designed only to mislead. Ask instead 'what percentage of workers does this represent?' and 'what percentage of those suspended workers are thereby unable to satisfactority perform their work or an alternative?' They don't use those stats so the actual economic impact is probably small.

Let's also not forget that speeding itself has a social and economic cost measured in increased fuel consumption, noise and social dislocation, and in the cost of fixing smashed cars and people. Whilst punishment may not be the answer - no-one wants to see people forced out of jobs because of repeated lapses in concentration or a basic misunderstanding of the importance of road laws (hmmmm) - we can't ignore a problem that creates both ill-feeling and disrespect for authority and a rough-house bullying attitude by one group of motorists that sets them against the law-abiding and the non-motorised.

So let's get real. Balance punishment and education, sure, and start a cultural change in our society that increases care and respect for our community, including respect for laws designed to regulate and improve traffic flow. Yes folks, speeding stuffs up the traffic. You speed, you catch the guy in front and queues start. So just slow down, save gas and improve traffic flow. That's my 2 cents worth.

The Age: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Melbourne's leading newspaper.

Some people are worried and thinking about solutions. Desperate ones at that.

"Cutting emissions was not enough. Mankind now had to take greenhouse gases out of the air.

'The current burden of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is in fact more than sufficient to cause catastrophic climate change," Professor Flannery said.

'Everything's going in the wrong direction at the moment; timelines are getting shorter, the amount of pollution in the atmosphere is growing. It's extremely urgent.'"

The Age: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Melbourne's leading newspaper.

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Ban new freeways: transport group - National - theage.com.au

We have a little climate problem of our own making happening here, and even if you dispute that we did it, it's happening. So do we start acting like we need to do something, or do we continue to do what we are doing (ie continue to waste our resources out of short-sighted greed) and hope for the best?

It's blindingly obvious but anyway, for those who still do not get it:

"AUSTRALIA must halt construction of freeways if drastic cuts in emissions from vehicles are to be achieved, a submission to the Garnaut Climate Change Review has said."

Ban new freeways: transport group - National - theage.com.au

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More on millennials

To be fair about this generational labelling machine and its adherents, let's look at the "why" behind gen Y. To quote BNET again: millennials were the first generation to grow up with soccer moms, doting dads, and trophies for participation. All that adult attention gave them confidence and a knack for following directions. In addition, says Lancaster, many millennials’ lives have been heavily scheduled since childhood, so they understand achievement and heavy workloads. And growing up with PCs has contributed to their comfort with technology and social networking.

Remember we are looking at the generation born roughly between 1977 and 1995. "Roughly" gives them some way of wriggling out of the prescription, but let's not let 'em do that.

What exactly are 'soccer moms' and why do they suddenly appear in 1977? Well there's no research on this that I can find so let's use some logic and a bit of guesswork. We are looking at the US, so we have just excluded a lot of people born elsewhere, including people who now work in the US. If we apply this to 'all rich western nations' then we are in the ballpark. We can assume 'soccer' is a generic for any sport or activity to which by untested stereotype 'moms' drive their kids to events. I think we can relate to that, but why 1977? Did this hit some sort of tipping point? Cars have been increasing in number and spreading pervasively across Western society since the end of WWII, so perhaps they hit some magic point where the vast majority of families had 2 cars by then... maybe. Easy to check. But it must also be allied with "moms" and their being available and licensed to drive. Again a check is in order to see what proportion of families had licensed car-driving mothers, and what proportion were in 2-car families. That second part may not be a clincher as one presumes 1 car is sufficient. But 'doting dads' and 2 kids or more suggest a need for 2 cars at times.

What would be the clincher is what proportion of these mobile moms actually took their kids to these activities. For Gen Y to be real we'd expect more than 50%, probably more like 80%. But is that so? Even at 50% that leaves a lot of these 'millennials' out of scope.

Of course they all got certificates and trophies for participation, which never happened before, or at least not to this degree. And it twisted their minds, apparently. But again, only an unknown proportion of kids is involved. Is it 50%? Less?

And we are assuming of course that being driven to events and activities in your childhood overrides almost all other facets of your life, environment and genome. Wow, big assumption there. Illness, accidents, variability in family income, persecution, broken homes, violent families, drunken parents, blended families: all are simply not on the radar. Wow. Anyone seen the evidence for this amazing soccer-mom influence? I haven't.

But wait, there's more! "All that adult attention gave them confidence and a knack for following directions". Are you sure about that one? This doesn't sound like any kids I know, or any different to the generation before. We have been doting on our kids ever since before we dropped the average family down to under 3. And that, in most Western countries, was before 1977. In some cultures doting on your kids has been in place for much longer.

And more again: "many millennials’ lives have been heavily scheduled since childhood, so they understand achievement and heavy workloads". This is a big call. Where exactly is the evidence? There is none - it's an opinion. I can just as assertively say that many people, Gen Y included, have not had heavy workloads and overly-scheduled lives, nor do they particularly like heavy workloads or heavy scheduling in their lives. Some people relax instead and live relatively unstructured lives. In any case linking this "understanding" of scheduling to "achievement" simply because you say so is arrogant rubbish. I'm sorry but again, where is the evidence for this link?

Lastly, "growing up with PCs has contributed to their comfort with technology and social networking". Growing up with something will usually make you comfortable with it, unless it's unpleasant. It's a no-brainer. It will apply to a large proportion of this age group but not everyone. People born in 1977 will be under-represented in social-networking sites in comparison with those born in 1995, yet there will also be Gen X and even baby boomers at those same sites. It's a sliding scale, and never as black and white as the generational labellers make out. There is individuality and life-long learning at play here.

At the end of the day it's a label - a big one. It doesn't fit everyone, nor can it. There is little evidence to support it and it is arbitrary. The definitions are so bland as to fit anyone. Whilst a significant number of post-War baby boomers actually lived with missing parents, social deprivations, shortages and even bombed-out buildings, it's stretching the case rather a lot to suggest that being driven around by doting parents will make you significantly different to anyone else. Let's just treat everyone as individuals and stop making stuff up.

Don't fall into generational labelling trap!

Beware, the pop psychologists and generational labellers are after you! Now it's "the millennials".

From BNET: The generation of workers born roughly between 1977 and 1995, known as millennials or Generation Y, represents the biggest shift in the U.S. workforce since the baby boomers came of age. Eighty-million strong, they will soon account for the majority of American workers, especially as boomers start to retire.

OK, that sounds fine, doesn't it? This group of people will soon be the majority of workers. But does this matter? And why are we - or they - choosing to look at only this segment of the workforce? Why only people born between 1977 and 1995? What is significant here?

Nothing, absolutely nothing. Look at it this way: they remain human beings. They have the same physiology we have had for perhaps a million years. They have emotions. They also have wants and needs, starting with the basics like food and shelter. They are just like us. So trash this labelling scam, please, and start addressing people as individuals!

Not convinced? Well why don't we include people born in 1976? How are they different? Or 1975? Who decided upon this cut-off and why? Was it because of some genetic shift in our genome? Was there a cultural revolution? No?

Well apparently they are different because "experts" say so. One expert says: millennials are team-oriented, eager to tackle huge challenges, and quite particular about their leaders. “They won’t do something just because you say, ‘I’m the manager,’” Smith says. “On the other hand, they’ll work hard for someone who truly mentors them.”

How odd. Team oriented? That's insane! Imagine that, human beings that are team-oriented. That's never happened before. Eager to tackle huge challenges, too. Like no-one has ever done this before, eh? And choosy about leaders... hmmm. But if you are a good mentor it's OK, you'll get respect. How counter-intuitive. Basically that "expert" has spewed out nonsense that's as convincingly bland as the definitions of astrological sun signs. Folks, this is a con.

You're joking, right? HSV steps up power war with new V8 - drive.com.au

From the 'you have got to be kidding' department - HSV is the climate-change-ignorant, go-faster-die-quicker division of the Aussie arm of GM and they have announced a 6.2litre dinosaurian engine for the fattest and thirstiest locally-built old-tech car on the market with this sadly ironic comment:

“We know our customers want the latest and greatest technology in their cars,” says HSV managing director Scott Grant.

HSV steps up power war with new V8 - drive.com.au

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One of those "bravo" moments

Occasionally I have to say thanks for people like Tom Yager, who generally writes pertinent, logical and informed words about IT matters - but doesn't limit himself to just the code and the hardware. Better still, he's not preachy about his opinions: When I write about it, I stay away from suggesting that there is any sort of "save the planet" global imperative that should drive IT toward consolidation and the purchase of more energy-efficient equipment. By pursuing energy-conscious policies, what a company conserves is capital. As energy prices inevitably rise, kilowatts, BTUs, and square feet rise above nickel-and-dime concerns. I reach out to the pragmatists with the message that conservation makes fiscal sense. I don't mind sneaking my agenda through the side door.

Bravo. Well said.

I'm still enjoying...

A few more good sites...

• KillerStartUps.com - exactly what it says, dude
• Intel Mash Ups - yes, Intel has joined in with their own mash-up service. Works, too
• The Wildlife of Sydney - amphibia ('cause a frog just landed at our feet)
• Oosah.com - which appears to take your personal media and make it into a whizz-bang slideshow, if only it wasn't so darned slow!!!
  

Not sure where this is heading...

You click on an image, the image enlarges and pixillates. You click again, it becomes a series of images. You choose again and click. On and on, deeper and deeper. No, I'm not going to keep going, I lost interest. Maybe it goes somewhere, maybe not? Try it.

Olympic cyclist Ben Kersten's fury at road-rage driver | The Daily Telegraph

There's more on the apparently deliberate attempt to injure cyclists in Sydney this morning... from the Daily Telegraph. Perhaps as sickening as the incident itself is the stream of poorly-thought-out and abusive comments from motorists who are apparently not able to peaceably share the roads...

CHAMPION cyclist Ben Kersten says a random hit-and-run road rage attack could have killed several riders - including Olympic Games gold medallists Graeme Brown and Kevin Nichols - in Sydney today.

Olympic cyclist Ben Kersten's fury at road-rage driver | The Daily Telegraph

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