Franklin McKnight
So far this year, more than 110 people have died on the roads. That’s more than a third the horrible murder figure on which the nation is rightly fixated.
But as with violent crime and murder, there appears no real answer to the climbing fatal crash figures and the horrendous loss of body parts and disfigurement and of productivity and of property with the motor vehicle crashes.
And yet, scracely do you hear any approach that says are new policies that will help staunch the bloodletting on the roads. Instead we hear pious, sanctimonious nonsense underlining the same old failed procedures and practices. So there is madness about because, as we have long been told, wanting different results from the same old tactics is a sign of mental illness.
Now the latest panacea being offered is legislation to massively increase fines for traffic violations. This too will fail, even if the coffers are topped up in the process.
It’s apparent to most people who use the roads, except apparently to the police, that the roads have become a jungle in which “those who play by the rules get shafted” and experience delays and where no regard is shown for law or order or safety. The police tactics entrench such behaviour.
They continue, especially in the rural areas, to run stationary speed trap-ambushes. Most of those spots are known to most users of those roadways and flashing lights further diminish their usefulness, whatever the ticketing system suggests.
Nor is speeding the primary violation on the roads. No one has established beyond doubt either that it is the primary cause of fatal or other crashes. Yet resources and time continue to be thrown at sped traps that provide a rich vein for corruption.
It’s obvious, just looking at traffic lights along the north coast highway that at every one of them taxi and bus operators and an increasing number of other motorists form an outside line and an underaking lane by passing traffic stopping at them. The lanes that should be used for turning right suddenly become the express preserve of the speeding taxi and bus that gets pass all the other traffic.Moreover, you can almost guarantee that stopping on a pedestrian crossing, or in an intersection or parking in a no parking area marked with yellow line will bring no prosecution because the blinkered policy of over reliance on speed traps does not recognize the seriousness or frequency of those violations.It possibly is lack of money, but where are the highway patrols and even motorcycle and bicycle patrols in towns which could keep motorists obeying the law rather than taking it for granted and killing ourselves. It’s simple enough for the police to set out a new policy of patrols and different surprise action to clean up the roads and drag down the mounting death figures. Dr Lucien Jones’ appeals — for a change to keep us under 400 road deaths this year — though well intentioned are not enough.Meantime, it’s clear that an assault on the practices of motorcyclists failing to wear helmets and properly operate ought to be undertaken. That can’t be done by simply chasing them down. But it must involve a concerted effort at having their vehicles properly checked and documented and also education for helmet use as we had for seat belts. Speed traps won’t stop them killing themselves and some of us.It’s time someone asked the head of the traffic SSP Calvin Allen when last have you done some thinking and what’s the plan aside from your speed traps and appeals to stop speeding and stop overtaking.
Either he leads the solution or leaves the kitchen.
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