An African system to solve road carnage

MARY de Haas’s letter “Solutions to road carnage known” in yesterday’s paper refers.

While she makes good points about what needs to be done to endeavour to curtail road carnage, I must vehemently disagree with her support for a demerit system because it works so well in the UK and Australia.

We live in Africa.

Here we don’t pay traffic fines nor do we pay tolls when not forced to activate a boom. How in God’s name do you think a demerit system will solve road carnage?

The draconian drink driving laws which we adopted from Australia have made little or no difference here and are flouted with regular abandon.

How anyone expects an inebriated person to make a sensible choice and not drive when intoxicated is beyond me.

This nanny state approach will not work in Africa.

And withdrawing a license to drive has no effect let alone when licenses are withdrawn for insignificant infractions such as parking and speeding tickets which also carry demerit points.

Maybe the Botswana system will work better.

Corporal punishment for infractions.

A colleague told me some years ago that he was caned for exceeding the speed limit in Botswana. This penalty made an impression on him, that’s for sure, as the indignity far outweighed any financial penalty.

We need an African system to resolve the road carnage.

The UK and Australia are not shining lights and if you think so, Mary de Haas, move there and live like a drone.

I like Africa and abhor state interference in my affairs.

In fact, I think we should increase the maximum speed limit to at least 140km/h. After all, everyone travels at this speed so why insist on a 120km/h speed limit.

Oh and what’s this idiocy where the speed limit on a national road is reduced to 80 or 100km/h. Howick to Nottingham road is a classic example.

Make the rules of the road sensible and maybe we South Africans will adhere to them.

KEITH BRODIE Durban