Coming soon to California, probably…
If you believe the latest numbers from an IAM RoadSmart annual driving safety culture report, drivers in the UK are big fans of being governed ever harder. Apparently, 89 percent of those surveyed said they “support the use of safety camera technology to check for insurance, MOT and road tax offences.”
See what happened when a C8 Corvette hit a truck at speed here.
Yes, it’s pretty shocking a British publication wouldn’t use the Oxford comma, but sadly I see this all too often. What isn’t shocking is that the media in the UK is pushing for citizens’ papers to be checked electronically wherever they go.
IAM RoadSmart provides people in the UK with driving and riding safety tips. It also advocates for road safety. In other words, there’s no way they would want to portray that people are against ever-increasing government regulation when it comes to Big Brother keeping everyone on the road safe and sound.
In Auto Express, they did admit the sample size for this survey was just 2,000 people. We can debate all day long about if that sample is large enough to be statistically significant, but it’s interesting nothing is said about how people were selected for the survey.
I visited IAM RoadSmart’s website and while the 2021 Driving Safety Culture report wasn’t available, the one for 2020 was there. Thankfully, it shows the research methodology, which I assume is similar to what was done for the latest report. It simply states: “As in previous years the final achieved sample was weighted by region and age group to be representative of UK motorists (excluding N. Ireland) using data the from the Department for Transport National Travel Survey.”
So, what did they do about non-responses to the survey inquiry? It doesn’t say. There is a breakdown of what age groups are represented, which regions of the UK, and it even shows a 50/50 split between men and women for the “unweighted sample profile.” Still, there are some unanswered questions about the research methodology I think deserve to be addressed, especially if policy choices are being made based off what’s presented as a representative sample of the population.
If people in the UK want the government speed cameras to check all their papers electronically to see they’re in order every time they drive by, who am I to tell them no? After all, I’m an American and live in a place where I don’t even have to get my car’s emissions tested. What do I know about British freedom?
What I do know is these types of policies have a way of floating across the pond to America, and that’s where I’m truly concerned. I feel for people in the UK who have to put up with this kind of nonsense, but I will absolutely fight it taking hold where I live. I hope other enthusiasts feel the same way, because before too long you’ll be automatically fined by these cameras if your exhaust is a little too loud or there’s something else the government wants to control about your car. Only, those things already are happening in this country and it’s going to get worse if we don’t speak up and support those who will fight authoritarian measures.
Source: Auto Express
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