Once again, the whole country is shocked by a traffic accident. This time, the dead is not a famous singer, but a mother with her baby, as well as two others. The latter, occupants of a Porsche, which sped out of control at tremendous speed in the parking lot of the National Road, at the 83rd kilometer, at Ypato Thebes. The video that was released (and which TopSpeed.gr not republishes, respecting the pain of the families who lost their people) is shocking.
And now, half of Greece is wondering: "Who's to blame for the Porsche crash"? Why did this tragedy happen? And the experts and "experts" will begin. From "Porsches are killers", to "blame the rich". And, what really happened, why did the Porsche pull into the parking lot having already lost control? High-mileage tire? Driver indisposed? Was he trying to photograph the dial? Had he gone to the Thebes straight to finish? Just "lost it"? We probably won't find out. Everyone is talking about it and professing shock. So they're just pretending. Yeah, supposedly shocked.
And you, supposedly shocked. If you don't already know why, the replay is a learning matrix and I will explain again some things I have written before about the hypocrisy of the Greeks in the crying of the dead and injured from traffic accidents. Why, you know, little importance has to do with who was at fault in this particular accident. And who will be at fault in next. And in next.
A country in mourning 1,600 dead and 20,000 injured in traffic accidents every year, (in nominal terms, because they have started to decrease, due to a reduction in vehicle traffic) how he can pretend that he's overwhelmed? And why does nothing so that her children wouldn't go to waste like they did? Why Greeks like to cry their children, their brothers and sisters, their parents, their relatives?
"But what are you saying?", some will say. Who likes to cry for their people? And yet! 9 out of 10 Greeks like it. Because they prove it every day and set an example to those around them. And if you say a word to themyou'll hear it.
Consider that a large percentage of those who are "mourning" today, tomorrow will pass in red, will violate the STOP, they will not wear zone, they'll be upside down in the one-way street, they'll park on the corner, run over it a little more, they will take the car after they have been drinking "two small glasses", they will make wedges and a thousand and two more. And, when someone asks them to speak, they will sell "bravado". Lies?
I almost feel graphic that with every fatal car accident I have to repeat the same thing and nothing to change around me: Greeks have no driving education. In general, we have a low level of education (which I think is responsible for our poor reflexes in the crisis), but in driving, we've ended it. The numbers prove the point: In terms of road accidents and road safety, Greece is in 28th place, the last in the EU. Every day, We mourn five dead, five quadriplegics, 10 paraplegics, 60 injured and tens of thousands of euros in property damage.
Why we drive around shitting on the people around us and as if we don't care if someone is waiting for us at home? What's wrong?
Everything. All of us. Each of us individually, who, just once, will say "you're not bored." Who doesn't get the driving seriously. Who writes the KOK and logic in his old shoes, whether he drives a truck or a bus (even school buses, you atheophobes) with worn tires, or a car as he likes, or a motorbike/motorcycle by making a mockery of the DMV, either bike moving as and where he pleases (really, the lanterns do not apply to you, or are you undead?), or even as pedestrian "I can get across." Why we're dudes. We are Smart we. The others don't know. The others are exaggerating. Because "Okay, now we're talking.“.
Then, there is the State. Are these the unrelated chair-driven centaurs, who behave in the car owners as if they had committed a criminal offence. Who have been mumbles in taxation, essentially pushing them to drive dangerous cripples. But, you little boogeyman, don't you realize that by overtaxing the car in a country that has poor public transport, force the owner to choose the oldest, most poorly maintained, most unsafe car available? Doesn't that mean anything to you? You're wasting away that we're filled with used who flew the Germans in the trash And our wise guys turned the miles and are selling them as "relatively new"? Why do you forbid the Greek family man from buying a new car to move his family around? Why do you prohibit the young man from buying the car he loves?
And, continuing with the culprits, as if I had forgotten them: they are to blame. the politicians - rulers of the starter (not only of the central, but also of the local scene) who receive streets - framed, by unbelievable malfunctions that lead to deaths. And no one has ever gone to jail for it! People were paid to deliver goat tracks! And our "representatives" delivered them!
Blame the system which imposes and maintains stupid speed limits - in many places - only to be broken. That one-way streets depending on the "tooth" a resident has at city hall.
It's the fault of Traffic who sets up tabs to cut calls instead of making sure they educate: Make helmet-zone recommendations, improve, by policing, driver behavior.
They are to blame the driving instructors and all the rotten circuit which granted a shitload of driver's licenses to people who shouldn't have because the "oil" dropped.
It's the fault of the car racing organisers that turned the sport into a closed circle. A clique. Who are not becoming the drivers, the teachers of road safety in this country. For, every driver, especially the young driver, will listen in awe to the "god" of rallying. But, I forgot: Instead of seeing how to get people on the climbs and tracks, they slaughter each other like it's a football league and then we wonder why young kids are turning into genes which give online dating at Riba's to break out.
And of course, we're to blame and journalists, that we are whatever. It's my fault too., most of all, that, even though I have the step, I don't suck your brain in every test and presentation I make that you will enjoy the fast car on the track. That the good car is the one that keeps you safest. That you're a good driver when you don't endanger yourself and others. That the hyperspeed car I'm describing how to open can only be enjoyed by the living. That you're only a dude on the track. That I'm not writing this and much more. Of course, if I do that, you won't give me a single click. But at least I'll sleep well at night.
All this, combined with the traditional for the Greek indifference for everything bad that happens around him (until it touches his house) have created a kind of culture. In a bad way. That is, we all turn a blind eye to lawlessness because, down the road, we'll be doing it too.
And of course, instead of cursing and "blame", it's a time of reflection. It's a time to see what we will do for our own safety and, when we take care of that and become civilized people and not Ugana on sheet metal and plastics, we will claim our right to the streets - jokes on which we move. And how will we do it?
Certainly, we will not expect anything from governments and politicians. They are doing their job. They shit on us and they shit on us. Besides, let me tell you a truth, if you're unemployed, on any kind of benefit or pension and get killed one day, you're doing them a favor. They'll save resources. What, lies?
The truth is, after all, that in this chaos that the Greek state is creating - and you are responsible for this chaos, of course - there is no capable political or political formation that will take the responsibility to clash with interests and change the reality of transport.
For example, our country has a special House Standing Committee on Road Safety, which, this year alone, has met six times and a dozen times last year. On those occasions, it has been briefed by experts and non-experts on road safety issues (as if its members are aliens moving on other roads), but, search as we might, we have not found a conclusion, or better yet, some action to make things right and get fewer people killed.
Below, we pull out a (still) old text from an interview with Iaveris, who explains that in one year we had 1,600 deaths and 20,000 injuries in road accidents.
It is as if a small aviation aircraft with 20 passengers crashes into a residential area every day.
Most road accidents occur in residential areas at speeds below 45 km/h. And most of the victims who die on the road are under 30 years old. In fact, according to the latest figures, 60 to 70% of road accident victims are aged 15 to 29. We have a surplus of young lives, it seems, in this country...
Cause? The tragic roads and dangerous drivers that, combined with ignorance and indifference, lead to a criminal result, as Javert explained.
"Road cancer in our country is treated with painkillers instead of surgery," he said, citing as an example the fact that while all countries have reduced road accidents from 20% to 99.5%, such as Sweden, in Greece we have had an increase of up to 60%.
"The car becomes a weapon when a projectile enters it," Iaveris said and explained: "In the last 100 years, in Greece, which has gone through two wars, 70,000 Greek children have died in battle. In the last 60 years, 140,000 people have died by car, that is, the number of victims was four times as many, while 350,000 were left disabled."
Iaveris, also raised another important parameter, the economic one as he said, "40% of the cost in health care is from traffic accidents."
"Road accidents cost €12 billion every year. Over 50 years that means 600 billion euros thrown away in blood on the tarmac. And then we say how to save money and put equivalents, when all that money is being thrown on the road for nothing," Iaveris pointed out.
"A parent who drives a car at more than 10 km per hour and lets his child sit in the middle of the back seats and does not properly strap him into the child seat is like designating him for a wheelchair that will push him around for the rest of his life if a violent braking occurs," he said.
He also spoke, however, about the general ignorance that exists in public opinion regarding the importance of safe driving, citing the following example: "They asked 100 people in a game show which profession needs the least attention and the most popular answer with a rate of 80% was professional driver. That is, the school bus driver who transports our children," he said.
He particularly emphasized the violation of the red traffic light, stressing that "it is an attempted murder, it is an attempted suicide".
Iaveris also stressed that only if an initiative is taken at a high political level, can this national problem take on serious dimensions.
"In order to stop the crime and genocide that takes place daily on Greek roads, the Road Safety Committee must go to Maximou and ask the Prime Minister to take it over because it is a major national and political issue," he said, and his proposal seemed to have positive acceptance by the Committee.
Concluding his briefing, Iaveris gave a piece of advice to all drivers saying, "The solution to the problem is self-esteem. Everyone, needs to know how priceless and cherished they are, and how much their children or parents will miss them if they get involved in a silly collision because their minds are on the rails. If we want to reduce road crime immediately, let us shorten each morning and think about how many hugs await us in the afternoon."
