It would appear that many of those holding high office in our country are challenged mentally and prone to making harebrained decisions that fly in the face of reason.
The latest decision to reduce the speed limit to 40 km/h is absurd. But not as absurd as the suggestion that there should be driving tests before driver’s licences are renewed.
It must be pointed out that the present speed limits are not the reason that there are accidents on our roads. It is because these limits are exceeded without consequence.
When visiting the traffic department one is confronted by queues of people waiting to get their licences and a large number waiting to take driver’s tests. For many of these it means hours of waiting in queues and lost productivity, before they are assisted. If all of these people were waiting to have driving tests I think they would have to put up a tent and park there for a few days.
What would happen if we put more pressure on the structures? The worst thing would be a meltdown of service, which would lead us to a situation where drivers would be driving without licences as it is impossible to get through the red tape of taking the test in the first place.
But that will not be the only problem. Most certainly there will be a rise in bribery and corruption as drivers will try to get their driver’s licence without having to go to the trouble of actually taking a test, and will bribe an official. This is already happening as many drivers are using the roads without a legal licence.
A suggestion would be to make drivers that have proven to be irresponsible and have been pulled over and given a ticket for bad driving, speeding and failing to follow the rules of the road, for example not stopping at red lights and stop streets, to take a test. Another way would be to institute the Aarto points system and those with a certain number of points should have their licences suspended, and be forced to redo their driving test.
None of this will work, however, unless traffic officers start doing their job of enforcing the law, instead of, as it has been reported, demanding bribes. This is the only way to ensure the rules are being adhered to.
Draconian measures and attempts by the government to rake in more revenue will not solve any problems.
