Failed maths again

I’m not a proffessor and I didn’t do maths beyond high school so the news that a Professor in South Australia wants police to stop letting drivers off the hook for speeding ‘just a bit’ has me confused.
DRIVERS are given too much leverage by police before being booked for speeding, the traffic safety guru responsible for the gradual lowering of the suburban speed limit to 50km/h has warned. Professor McLean uses the analogy of the limit on blood alcohol level to back up his suggestion to cut the police tolerance of speeding. The legal limit of 0.05 per cent blood alcohol level was chosen because statistically that level doubles the chances of a car crash. “So travelling at 69km/h in a 60km/h (zone) is like travelling at 60km/h with a blood alcohol level of 0.1 per cent,” Professor McLean said.
It’s the last sentence that has me confused. I think it’s a case of any figure will do and now I’m in the news again, maybe I’ll finally get that grant. The people who make my car will not guarantee the speedo accuracy to anything closer that 10% so I’m out on a limb here. I guess if I don’t drive in South Australia I should be safe but the ‘Nanny State’ wankers are after me. More>>

2 comments

  • This bloody idiot is claiming that a mere 9km/h increase in speed doublesthe chances of having an accident? Regardless of road conditions, type of car, level of driver expertise etc etc?
    I’d love to see the methodology he used to arrive at that conclusion.
    It seems that any kind on pseudo-scientific guesswork is good enough when it comes to protecting us from ourselves.
    Bloody nannies..go get a a life. And a real job.

  • “Degrees” are thrown around more liberally these days. Why not “professorships” too?