The driver education myth

Whatever the social problem, liberals always seems to believe that education is the solution.

Take road accidents for example.

According to the liberal mind set, road accidents are caused by a lack of driver knowledge or skill, and greater driver education, in the form of longer, more expensive licenses or defensive driving courses, will solve the problem.

Meanwhile, back on planet earth, most accidents are not caused by unskilled drivers, but cocky skilled drivers.

In terms of driving skill, the most unskilled drivers are probably women and old people, yet statistics show that these groups are involved in the least serious accidents. Although many woman struggle to master parallel parking and using a manual gearbox, their greater maturity and sense of caution means that they are able to compensate for any weaknesses in natural ability and avoid serious accidents.

In contrast, it it naturally coordinated young males, with quick reactions, who constitute the majority of road fatalities - not because they lack driving skill, but because their youthful confidence and impulsiveness leads them to take risks that older drivers wouldn't. Only time and the punitive actions of the police can curb these natural tendencies.

Defensive driving courses might actually give them more confidence in their own ability, thus encouraging them to take even more risks on the road.

Another likely genetic factor in road accidents, is that liberal bogeyman, intelligence. In Australia and New Zealand, European settlers like to make jokes about the inexperience and nerdy dithering of East Asian drivers. However, Asian drivers probably have lower accident rates than their White counterparts. Again, since driving skill isn't a factor, the likely reason for the difference is the higher average IQ of East Asian immigrants.

To see what little impact driving knowledge has on driver behaviour, you only have to observe driver behaviour when a police car is spotted on the highway. Drivers who normally follow too close and attempt risky overtaking manoeuvres, suddenly become polite, model drivers who unwaveringly adhere to speed limits and recommended following distances.

It's also interesting that most liberals usually agree with the statement that "it isn't bad roads that cause accidents, it's bad drivers." However when questioned on an issue like gun control, most left-liberals vehemently disagree with the argument that "guns don't kill people, people do."

Given that a high proportion of fatal road accidents in New Zealand occur from head-on crashes, I would have thought that the fact that we don't have any inter-city highways with median crash barriers might have some bearing on our road accident statistics.

Unfortunately though, as the current debacle over broadband shows, New Zealand governments are more concerned with funding such things as funding for sex-change operations then in addressing unfashionable concerns like providing the country with a first world infrastructure.