A strange law has been passed, in silence, here in France. As off the 12th of March 2012, it has become mandatory for roads in France to have audible white lines.
Audible white lines are those white lines on the road that when your tire passes over them makes a squeaky noise. It has been done on purpose so that if you are falling asleep, you will wake up. It's true that the tires make a noise, but somehow I doubt that if you are falling asleep behind the wheel that it will wake you up, but then, what do I know?
But I do know that these white lines are thicker, and hence more slippery for motorcycles. According to study, 1 out of 3 accidents happened because the person fell asleep behind the wheel. This is playing with statistics, something governments love doing. As 19th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said "Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics" (my favorite example of misuse of statistics is to ask "would you prefer to fly with a sober or with a drunken pilot?" to which the answer is obviously "the sober one". To which my reply is "wrong... study shows that 99.997% of all airplane accidents are caused by a sober pilot, so you are safer with a drunken one").
If 30% of accidents are caused by people falling asleep, but other studies show that 60% are caused by speeding, 40% by drunk driving, it's just that people are probably drinking and falling asleep (and possibly speeding at the same time). The cause of the accident is not falling asleep, but DUI. So they are going to spend millions making the roads unsafe for motorcycles, for something that does not make any real sense.
On top of that, the new law does not apply in areas where there are houses (because of the noise it generates), and places that have strict winters (the snow removable damages the white lines). And since there's no desert in France, it does not leave that many roads that can accommodate the audible white lines.
So, a strange law that has little application, just a few politicians showing that they worked hard, and earned their inflated salaries.
Via: Securite Routiere
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