The carnage on the roads continues

The carnage on the roads continues

RECENTLY released figures suggest that the unacceptable carnage on South African roads continues unabated and as ever, the reports are accompanied by frenzied responses from the powers that be about draconian new laws to stem the red tide.

Zimbabwe too has an appalling track record in terms of road deaths and past experience suggests the situation there mirrors what goes on in Mzansi.

The solution, I suggest, does not lie in the introduction of new and restrictive legislation as the “rules of the road” in both countries are already sufficiently all-encompassing. The solution largely rests with PROPER ENFORCEMENT of existing legislation so as to change the mindset of drivers who flout those rules with impunity in the knowledge that getting caught and punished is unlikely.

Frankly, I am sick and tired of reading about “speeding” being the prime cause of accidents. What does that misused word really mean? In most instances, it would appear to describe the act of exceeding a posted speed limit but let me say that adherence to speed limits in no way guarantees safe passage.

Just yesterday, I was travelling along a beautifully-surfaced, dead-straight double-lane highway which carries an absurd speed limit of 60km/h. Sure enough, sitting within the central reservation, was a traffic cop armed with a camera. I put it to you that the sole reason for his presence was to raise revenue for the local municipality and that travellers’ safety had nothing to do with his presence.

To be blunt, you’ll find most speed traps in areas where utterly unrealistic limits are set and that simply confirms my revenue-raising theory.  In my book, “speeding” is the act of travelling too fast in the prevailing conditions and that could well include travelling at well under posted speed limits.

In Britain, where proper records are kept of traffic flows and proper accident statistics are recorded, speed is listed as the cause of less than 10% of accidents but in our part of the world, it’s always trumpeted as the primary cause.  Note please, the use of the word “cause” as opposed to “consequence.”  Everyone knows that the higher the speed, the higher the impact will be in the event of a collision but that is not the issue at stake here.

What is of greater relevance is the introduction of a much more meaningful driving test that truly tests practical ability rather than only theory.  How many learners, for example, know the first thing about ABS brakes and how they work? How many learners know the first thing about cadence braking, or oversteer or understeer or controlling a car in slippery conditions? And then comes that bugbear – enforcement.  If laws are fairly applied across the board, the mindset of drivers will  improve as defensive attitudes develop in place of aggressive attitudes.

Instead of deploying details with fancy cameras at every opportunity, deploy roving teams to identify those who ignore red lights and stop signs, those who ignore solid white lines, those who overtake on blind rises and around blind corners, those who drive unroadworthy vehicles and vehicles without proper lighting, those who drive with a cell phone glued to their ears, those who tailgate, those who drive while intoxicated ……. the list goes on, but in essence, it’s all plain common sense where the problems lie.

The primary problem at the end of the day is founded in driver attitude and that attitude is sourced in a disregard for common sense laws for the simple reason that enforcement is weak and prosecution is rare.