EDITORIAL OPINION Motorists put children’s lives in danger

LAST Thursday I witnessed two vehicles, both conveying children to school, paying absolutely no heed to traffic signs.

In the first instance, a red sedan, driven by a woman and with two young children sped (and I mean, sped) over two stop signs. The fact that there were two pedestrian crossings where children were crossing the road did nothing to deter her.

I soon spotted her again at a nearby junior school, offloading the same children whose lives (and those of others) she had just put at risk.

Shortly thereafter, an Avanza failed to stop at a stop sign and nearly collided with The Rep vehicle. Two school children, in uniform, were in the back and when I stopped and told him to stop next time, he merely shouted at me to get out of his way.

He had someone’s children in his vehicle and it could have been yours.

So many people of Komani and surrounding areas rely on public transport to get their children to school and pay for it with hard-earned cash. They deserve to know that the drivers adhere to the rules of the road and that, as far as is humanly possible, their children’s safety is guaranteed.

As there are often no traffic officers about at such times and it’s not possible anyway to police every stop street, it would be great if there was some kind of recourse available to residents to list such risky drivers and to prevent them from being eligible to transport children (or anyone else for that matter).

Those with presence of mind could video such offenders and let the traffic department and/or the police take action. Ideally, we would need cameras at such intersections and stop streets to deter any would-be offenders and to take to task those who think they are above the law.

If you are concerned about the traffic situation in Komani, please contact The Rep on facebook and let us know what you think. We would like to be part of a sustainable solution to ensure the safety of our streets.