Honesty through paranoia
It’s customary in this country to warn other drivers if you notice a multanova or police radar by the road. Driving past one, whether it’s on your side of the road or not, you generally flash your headlights at the oncoming traffic to save them the inconvenience of a speeding ticket. It’s a practice that fosters fraternity between strangers, between people whose only link is the shared use of the road, but it’s also quite illegal.
Though the police department will likely feed you a ‘road safety’ line, the simple truth is that it’s illegal because it interferes with police business; if less people speed past the camera, less fines are sent out, and less money is collected. It’s a terrible way to work, but what do you expect them to do… solve crimes? The saddest part of it all is that the intended purpose of these ‘road safety initiatives’ is exactly that — road safety. They’re supposed to be saving lives by making speeding a risk not worth taking; it’s just a pity it doesn’t work out that way. With that in mind, I’d like to propose a little social experiment.
Next time you’re driving down a road — any road — flash your headlights at the oncoming traffic and watch ’em slow right down. There’s no speed trap, of course, but they’ll keep driving at (or, more likely, below) the speed limit until they see one… they might be so foolish as to think “maybe he meant after the Marmion avenue intersection” and drive safely all afternoon. After a few minutes they’ll realize you were full of shit and resume their usual harried pace, but those minutes were worth it, right? Eventually people will wise up to the false alarms and ignore the flashes from other drivers… but they’ll cop a fine the next time they pass a real speed trap; it’s a win–win situation. Cry wolf — it’s more fun that you think.