This opinion piece is not intended to be (and is not…) an in-depth consideration of road safety. It's an outburst. The outburst of a driver who in over 10 years has only been caught speeding once. Without my driving – always safe and preventive – having changed, I feel that I am on the verge of moving up in the «ranking of fines»...
Until today, I was never afraid of radar. Now I have. Currently, radars are appearing all over the place and the boundary between road safety and inspections geared towards “looting motorists” is starting to become increasingly blurred. There are absurdly low speed limits and it is in these places that radars are normally placed. There is another problem with placing radars without warning: they induce unusual behavior in drivers.
When we least expect it, drivers abruptly reduce speed because there's a radar. Full brakes! Whoever can stop it. Who can't…
UNUSUAL: How to reduce speed in localities… «like a Sir»
More examples. Try going down the Águas Livres Aqueduct at 60 km/h, the Marquês Tunnel at 50 km/h or the A38 (Costa da Caparica-Almada) at 70 km/h… it's not easy. Our attention was now divided between the road and the speedometer. It is not a question of the need for radars on the roads, but the way in which they are placed. If in most cases radars prevent accidents, in particular cases (which I have already witnessed) they can also potentially contribute to causing them.I miss the time when I knew that my responsible driving (sometimes above the legal limit… yes, who ever!) was enough guarantee that I wouldn't get a fine at home. Is no longer. It is not, because there are radars strategically placed in places where it is easy to be “photographed” above the established limit.
SEE ALSO: In 20 years, a lot has changed in car safety. Very much!
Unfortunately, the road safety policy in our country is made above all in one sense: in the sense of the State's pocket. The criterion seems to vary between effective road safety and the so-called “hunting for fines”. It was good that the national authorities had half the zeal in road maintenance that they have in combating speeding.
Among other examples, going on the IC1 between Alcácer and Grândola should have embarrassed us all. It's a shame.