When was the last time a police officer pulled you over for doing something well?

Probably, never.

By contrast, how many times have you been pulled over for making a mistake?

This doesn’t incentivize drivers to get better but to hide their mistakes.

Hence the problem. Drivers are always making mistakes. Rightfully so.

Time and motion studies have discovered that on average, drivers will make 400 observations, 40 decisions and one mistake every two miles. Every 500 miles, one of those mistakes leads to a near collision.

When you build a system to try and catch the wrong type of behavior, you don’t change it. Instead, you amplify it.

Notice what happens to your body language when you read the words, “License and registration, please.” Does it make your teeth cringe?

Changing norms requires more than catching the wrong kind of behavior or demanding compliance. It’s much more effective to focus on the right kinds of behaviors and rewarding them.

Seriously, why do we need speed traps anyway?

The hard work is setting a culture where you wouldn’t need one.

Imagine a world where a police officer pulled you over and asked you to sit with them for 15 minutes to watch traffic; pointing out the close calls while showing the statistics of accidents that involve texting and driving. Imagine if he could show you all the good drivers during that time block and what they are doing. Imagine if a police officer pulled you over and simply brought to your attention to slow down, “you’re worth it.” Imagine if a police officer was able to record you in the act of a good driving sequence and was able to send it to you in the mail as a surprise.

How would that change our driving habits?