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Dangerous drivers need to be accountable

Surrey - The Editor, Re: "She wants to change language of the road," the Now, Aug. 7. Varinder Badh presents some of the most compelling and constructive solutions in her thesis.

However, before I go further; let me first offer condolences for Badh's tragic loss, and then to congratulate her on courage to go forth in writing her thesis, and in doing so, earning her doctorate in the social sciences.Badh's choice in entitling her thesis "It is No Accident that is Called An Accident - Vehicular Negligence: A Socio-legal Study of Crime, Law and Public Safety" was incredibly intuitive.She states discoveries in finding the average person still views injuries and or fatalities from road crashes "as the result of chance or fate, as an act of God, or just bad luck."Further, as terminology affects perception "it minimizes the possible reckless and selfish behaviour that leads to injury and fatality on the roads."In your story, there were many pertinent quotes that were tantamount to the points being conveyed, such as holding drivers responsible for injury or fatality "to a higher standard" of accountability.It's a sad fact that "accidents" on roads all over the world are not new.For a long time, governments, pressured by their citizens, have hashed, botched and rehashed the possibility of what to do to make our roads safer - with not much headway.Not until a government has the intestinal fortitude to come up with a paradigm that is totally intransigent to set rules, not subject to interpretation, and including all those suggested by Badh, will fatalities on our roads due to vehicular negligence begin to lessen in numbers. The sooner the better for all.Fran ManarySurrey