Causes of accidents

August 26, 2005

Dear Sir,

On the news there are always pictures and reports of people who have been in accidents and the main cause is people excessively going over the speed limit and/or losing control. Here are some other reasons why accidents are caused:Now like a person not knowing how to use a phone appropriately, people have a habit of driving slower just to have a conversation. Without any consideration of others behind them, there are people out there who drive less than 35 kph just to hear and respond back to a person. If this takes away from a person?s concentration that greatly, then maybe they should find a nice park close to the ocean and lay back to catch up on old times. Things like this cause drivers behind them to get frustrated and want to overtake them in order to complete their drive and take chances.People who are new to Bermuda, either to work or for vacation, are not comfortable with our roads yet. Whenever they get their vehicles, they should be completely informed about the dangers of the road and told the safest place to be while on the road is next to the sidewalk.

I am sure people who supply them with vehicles give them the basics and let them know about the road safety, but putting more emphasis on this can help the situation greatly. The people who do ride slowly in the middle of the road are faced with the risk of collisions on both sides of the road.The law ?anyone who hits another from the back is to blame? is unfair to the reasonable people of the road. There are multiple users of the road who fail to remember to let others know that they are about to make a turn and put on their indicators. This sets a natural reaction to the person behind them or coming towards them that they have to slow down soon and they should now decrease their speed. The people who have this responsibility feel a sense of being protected by this law or feel they can beat the situation by speeding up a little in order to avoid using indicators. If they fail to see if people behind them are overtaking, this causes a blind side accident. When people don?t speed up a little to get to their street and decide to indicate right at the gate or just stop in the road they cause these hit-from-the-back accidents to happen and the driver in the back to either pay a hefty bill.People don?t realise how slender our roads are already, and add to the problem by parking their cars in the public lane to talk, work, or any other type of recreation. Then they complain when scratches and dents appear on their vehicle. Because of this, people on the road have two solutions.The first is to wait while everyone from the oncoming traffic has pass through and the other is to try and beat them before they reach the same mark of passage. This is extremely dangerous because it blinds others behind the car that is overtaking.

One of the most important components on any vehicle is the mirror because it enables you to see what?s behind you at all areas of the road without a person having to toss and turn. The number of people who make blind decisions without having used their mirrors has caused multiple accidents throughout the Island. Bike riders about to overtake who look behind them to make sure things are fine before passing then turn around and the car or vehicle in front of them can come to a halt. Result: Collision. A person while driving notices that someone in a gate in front of them who wants to come out. Instead of checking the mirror to see if they can help, they automatically stop without looking back. This causes the driver behind to be forced to into an emergency stop and he or she would have to be at least 20 to 25 feet away from a car in front to avoid a collision.

People of higher authority should focus more on making commercials about safety instead of making more laws. If anyone has an opinion or comment about this write up then they can contact me at (thinkthenreacthotmail.com) It?s called football and not soccer

Free market benefits

August 24, 2005

Dear Sir,

I am sorry to burden your readers by replying to Cleveland Crichlow?s letter of August 19, but I would like to respond to him as he requested.

I never said, nor did Adam Smith say, that the market was God or that Alan Greenspan et al (that?s Latin for ? and others) were the devil. I make enough mistakes without Mr. Crichlow inventing them.

The quote about ?without the designing hand of authority? comes, I believe, from John McCulloch and not Adam Smith, but was common currency amongst a group of thinkers and dealers in ideas called ?The Enlightenment?, a group that I suspect would not ask Mr Crichlow to join them ? or for that matter myself.

It is nonsense to say that laissez-faire would lead to disaster ? it was that economic philosophy that lead to the unparalleled prosperity of the Western world during the 18th Century and later. Mr. Greenspan would agree wholeheartedly with that statement.

Before the 18th Century, economic life was one of unrelieved wretchedness except for the less than one percent who were the aristocracy. Neither Mr. Crichlow nor myself would have been members of that club.

In the 21st Century, belatedly, Russia, India and China, to name only a few, are moving towards laissez-faire; hence their increasing prosperity. Bermuda did so more than 200 years ago and that is the main reason why we are one of the wealthiest places on earth. That is why I favour laissez-faire over government intervention.

Another reason is, take a hard look at the politicians and bureaucrats you know. Both of us know many of them. Do you want them running your life? Neither do I.

May I also mention that Adam Smith would have supported the idea of Independence for Bermuda, so even in Mr Crichlow?s eyes he could not have been all bad. When he and I were young teachers, we each decided that it was in our self-interest (another of devil Adam?s ideas) to do something else. I suspect because we were paid more and the new jobs had greater status. Whilst publicly sneering at this 18th Century giant, Mr Crichlow has for most of his life followed his philosophy. Good on you. There are times when even the most virtuous of us have to rise above our principles.

As for calling me Bermuda?s Adam Smith ? thanks for the compliment (or was it an insult) but alas I don?t measure up.

CHICK-OF-THE-VILLAGE

Somerset