A Licence to Kill

Imagine being handed a gun and told that you could shoot someone and face no consequences. You would be horrified; almost all of us would refuse. The reason we aren't all murderers isn't simply the fear of prison; most of us could not stand the guilty horror of having someone's blood on our hands.

And yet, when we're in a car and pedestrians get in our way, we feel no compunction about threatening them, knowing that we could easily maim or kill them. This seems to apply even to generally kind, gentle people: something about being behind the wheel of an automobile turns us into homicidal maniacs.

Perhaps it's time to question how much the blame for aggressive, dangerous driving should be on the individual driver and how much on a car culture that suggests that it is the victim's fault if he or she is injured or killed in an "accident."

Consider the case of sexual harassment or rape. We question what the woman was wearing. Why she was out in the streets at night. Why she went to the assailant's home. The assailant must be held responsible for his actions, but a culture that inherently condones rape and harassment by blaming the victim rather than the perpetrator is also to blame.

Perhaps it's time to question how much the blame for aggressive, dangerous driving should be on the individual driver and how much on a car culture that suggests that it is the victim's fault if he or she is injured or killed in an "accident."

In mid-February, three Bangladeshi students were killed in Toronto in a car going well over 100 mph. Never mind that the top speed allowed in most of Canada is 68 mph. In one tiny section of the United States, the speed limit is 85 mph; in the rest of the country, it is lower. And yet, sports cars are legally sold that can reach speeds of over 200 mph. Why is it possible to manufacture and advertise a car that goes faster than the maximum allowable speed? (Hint: it has something to do with valuing corporate profits more than human life.)

This isn't to say that cars aren't deadly at slower speeds; that's why speed limits in residential areas tend to be quite low. But the glorification of speed certainly contributes to the inherent danger of motorised vehicles.

We put the blame on traffic police for not implementing speed limits. It would be far easier to enforce them if no cars were able to travel faster than the highest speeds allowed. Likewise, we blame people for littering while ignoring those who profit from the manufacture and promotion of unnecessary plastic packaging. We blame people for smoking or indulging in soft drinks, while companies rake in billions of dollars selling their heavily advertised products. Governments are supposed to provide healthcare and clean up the mess. People get sick and die, governments and individuals pay the costs, and corporations profit.

In Bangladesh, pedestrians are frequently the victims of speeding vehicles. Yet, we blame their "haphazard" movements (otherwise known as crossing the street, or walking in it because there is no usable footpath) as if they deserve the death penalty. As if one person's right to speed is inherently more valuable than others' right to life, especially some poor slob who doesn't even use a car. When someone is killed, it's labelled a tragedy, a senseless accident. We blame the pedestrian or the lack of better road management and speed limit enforcement – despite the fact that America's roads, though in vastly better condition, are nearly as deadly as those in Bangladesh, and pedestrian road deaths are actually on the rise there.

Following every mass shooting in the US – or perhaps I should say every highly publicised one, as mass shootings are so common, most of them get little press – politicians on the right offer their thoughts and prayers while those on the left talk about the need for stronger gun laws. Most people outside the US shake their heads at the insanity of making weapons of war easily available for sale, and thus regularly paying the consequences in blood and gore. And yet, here we are with cars.

There are simple solutions, if we cared to implement them. Stop calling road crashes "accidents." Hold people legally responsible for the injuries and deaths caused by their vehicles travelling at high speeds. Stop allowing the sale of vehicles that go above the maximum speed limit. And most of all, with road crashes as elsewhere, please stop blaming the victims.

Debra Efroymson is the executive director of the Institute of Wellbeing, Bangladesh, and author of 'Beyond Apologies: Defining and Achieving an Economics of Wellbeing.'