Move beyond threats

OVER the past few years, motorists and pedestrians have displayed an even sadder disrespect for the rules of the road than usual over the Easter holiday period.

And the consequences have been horrific. Last year, 235 people died on our roads in accidents that should never have happened, causing heartache in countless homes and damage to the economy running into many millions of rand.

Threats of strong action… of confiscating driving licences… and of stiff jail sentences have largely been ignored.

In the Western Cape, appeals have been accompanied by warnings from Transport and Community Safety MECs. As far back as 2011, then Transport MEC Robin Carlisle promised that better management of the roads by the province would result in deaths being halved on his watch.

“If we all take our responsibility towards road safety seriously, we can save lives during this period and beyond.”

The then Community Safety MEC, Albert Fritz, in turn, boasted about the bizarre introduction of colour-coded stickers with details of the time motorists were stopped at roadblocks, the number of passengers in a vehicle, and even the speed of the vehicle by calculating the time taken to travel from one point to the next. Not surprisingly, the promises and warnings came to nothing.

According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation, the reasons for the fatalities include drivers and passengers not wearing seat belts, drinking and driving, and overloading.

The Automobile Association says among the human factors that lead to crashes – and deaths – are jaywalking pedestrians (38.8%), hit-and-run crashes (18.5%), high speed (14.1%), overtaking in the face of oncoming traffic (6.9%), drunk driving or driving while on drugs (3.6%), and driver fatigue (2.2%).

Over the last Easter break, there were 28 road deaths in the Western Cape, the seventh worst in South Africa. This, though, is nothing to boast about.

It is time to move beyond threats. The authorities have spent more than enough time warning motorists that speed kills, that it is insane to want to drink and drive – and, for that matter, to be drunk and insisting to walk on public thoroughfares.

To be blunt, motorists and pedestrians who insist on putting their lives and the lives of others at risk should be sent to jail for their stupidity.