Motor cardinal sin
by Simon Handby in Your car on 21.06.07
The press got quite excited a couple of days ago about the Vatican’s Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road.
Most papers reported with a light tone on the document’s ‘10 car-mandments’, while some forums have been downright disrespectful - one contributor to the American Monkeyfilter website prayed for protection from insanely complex intersections.
Nevertheless, the Holy See is addressing a serious problem. Estimates vary on the number of people killed each year on the world’s roads, but the most frequently quoted figure is a staggering 1.2 million, with as many as 50 million injured.
The Department for Transport says that 3,201 people died on the UK’s roads in 2005, with nearly 29,000 seriously injured. Though that compares well with most countries, a recent report concluded that the UK no longer had the safest roads in Europe.
The Vatican, it seems, has its own house in order. The world’s smallest state has a 30km/h speed limit, and its last recorded road accident was apparently a year-and-a-half ago.
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