Addicted to speed?

If I walked down the street shooting a random round of bullets, I'd probably have less chances of hitting someone than speeding red light runners do.

I don't live in Oldham but when I read the news that three died as a car crashed against a wall, after it ran a red light at high speed, it really spooked me out. The same day in fact, as I left my home in Wolverhampton, I spotted a Ford Transit speeding -no joke- at about 80mph (and that's a conservative estimate) right in the middle of an urban area. It then proceeded to run a red light without even remotely slowing down. It was 10 am, the roads weren't deserted and the fucker in question probably thought he was in Grand Theft Auto and that real people were virtual targets. Or maybe invisible. Or, more likely, he didn't think at all.

Bear in mind the current speed limit stands at 30mph (or 50km/h). Seeing that Transit driving like that, I can't deny I had a serious rush of anger. If I walked down the street machine gunning a random round of bullets, I'd probably stand a lower chance of hitting someone. Perhaps the coppers would be alerted (or, at least, I hope so) and within minutes I'd be handcuffed or even shot down. But no crossing car, let alone pedestrian, would have stood a chance against that red light runner. Yet almost everyday we spot such absolute morons toying with other people's lives.

We view it as normal. To paraphrase the organisation Road Peace, road deaths and injuries are treated by the economy as some sort of "acceptable collateral damage", by the judicial system as "trivial" and by society as mere "accidents". Yet, a study by the American IIHS, revealed that in 2006 alone, "almost 900 people were killed and an estimated 144,000 were injured in crashes that involved red light running". About half of the deaths in red light running crashes are pedestrians and occupants in other vehicles who are hit by the bastards.

And so it may sound harsh, but the three in Greater Manchester who crashed their lives into a wall got exactly what they deserved. This time, at least, it wasn't some innocent soul walking the dog unaware he was about to meet his fate.

If there's one type of stupidity I just cannot tolerate it's what those Grand Theft Auto wannabes call "my addiction to speed". Contempt for human life, more like. Society is rife with patented idiots who literally can't see past their own nose. Their brain is so empty that they don't even take into consideration the notion that their stupid speeding addiction is the equivalent of brandishing a killing machine. It takes one episode, one second, for an innocent victim to lose their lives or remain fucked up for ever. And what exactly is the need for that?