Driving around town with no care at all sure sounds fun. However, what’s not fun is breaking traffic rules and driving past the speed limit. Especially around school and hospital areas, speed limit plays a crucial role in people’s safety. But there are numerous people around the world who are reckless enough to not obey the rules. Thus, Sweden has come up with a brilliant idea to make sure drivers follow the speed limit.
Kevin Richardson in January won Volkswagen’s The Fun Theory. The idea aims to make obeying speed limits fun. In less than a year, his idea is used in Stockholm, Sweden. His idea was smart and simple and also turned out to be possible to make road safety fun.
Speed Measuring:
There might be a chance that people might trick you. However, the camera also notices your coming time under the speed limit. It enters into your lottery automatically and the prized come from the fines paid by speeders.
It would probably not work where speeding fines and red light cameras exist as revenue streams for police. But the Swedish National Society has found it to be a success. As before the experiment, the average speed of a car passing the camera dropped from 32km to 25 per hour.
Special requirements to Drive:
Your vehicles must have their headlights on at all times to drive in Sweden. Instead of normal headlights during the day, you can use front fog lights or daytime running lights. However, you can’t combine different kinds of lights.
You must be 18 years old to have a driving license and drive. Moreover, both Swedish and non-Swedish cars require the law to have studded tires or un-studded winter friction tires. All the tires should be marked, M+S, M-s, M&S, MS, or Snow and Mud.
Speed Limits:
The current speed limit of Sweden is marked by signs and is in km/h. The signs are normally 30, 50, 70, 90, and 110. However, a new speed limit has appeared as 40, 60, 80, 110, and 120.
On each side of the road, there is a two-speed sign mentioning the new speed from this point to this. One side on the right mentions this speed limit however, there is no change. Also, the speed limit for roads outside built-up areas is always 70 kn/h.
The Fun Theory in Practice:
In 2010, Kevin Richardson enter Volkswagen with his idea about the camera lottery. The concept was powerful enough to put Stockholm to the test temporarily. Furthermore, the camera snapped the picture when the car pass and measures its speed.
The fine imposes if the driver was above the speed limit. However, the money was used to enrich the lottery prize for obedient drivers. This allows obedient drivers to participate in the lottery and get a chance to win some money who don’t follow the traffic rules.
The idea is simple yet brilliant. It punishes free-riders and rewards the obedient one benefiting the entire community through fun. There were 24, 857 cars in the trial reduce nearly by 8km per hour.
