So Esquimalt wants local residents to pay for speed bumps on Old Esquimalt Road (News, Feb. 15).
The first flaw in that scheme is that speed bumps do not stop some deliberately bad drivers from speeding, as many vehicles ride over them when hit at high speed. However, speed bumps can harm other vehicles driving at safe speed. It depends on suspension dynamics and design of the bumps, which I do not believe can be designed for all cases.
The solution is of course policing to re-educate drivers. But Esquimalt council refuses to protect citizens by paying for policing within Esquimalt, and other councils refuse in their fiefdoms. So deliberately dangerous drivers set the tone on the streets of the Greater Victoria area.
Never mind that police demonstrated on the Malahat mountain highway last summer, that continuous presence for quite a period of time does educate drivers. To state what should be obvious to anyone who pays attention out on the street: jerks will continue to put others at risk if the risk of being caught is low.
The root cause of that is voters electing politicians who would rather spend on cutesy things and anti-human do-gooder projects than on keeping humans safe. Residents on Old Esquimalt Road are getting what the majority wanted.
Keith Sketchley
Saanich
