Stop the insanity on our roads
There are three kinds of drivers in Namibia: those who stick to the law, those who think they are above the law, and those who are above the law.
That is how one man who has worked in road safety for years and seen a lifetime of carnage summed up one of our problems on national roads. The other one: a lack of real consequences for illegal driving behaviour.
Most importantly, a lack of visible policing along the national roads allows drivers to continue breaking the law and putting the lives of others at risk. There is no real cost for their attitude or behaviour, aside from a crash and injury or death. But before millions are spent and another life lost, why not institute globally recognised strategies that could significantly reduce the carnage? Key is law enforcement visibility and response to law breaking and costly punishments. The lack of law enforcement between roadblocks allows reckless, selfish, arrogant driving to thrive with impunity. Moreover, the absence of effective punishment undermines all other road-safety campaigns. Why would someone change their behaviour when the cost is minimal? One definition of insanity is to do a thing over and over again and expect different results. Most of the horror on our roads, if not all, is in some way related to negligence, arrogance, bad decision-making, haste and simple ignorance. Yet traffic authorities remain glaringly absent from the roads.
No licences are suspended and no cars impounded. Law breakers thrive. Each year another family is plunged into the depths of grief, their lives forever changed.
Each year our cash-strapped government forks out millions in healthcare costs.
This killing spree cannot be stopped if authorities are not visible along the road and punishments remain weak. This is a national emergency and action is needed now. Apart from death or injury, which many of the culprits clearly don't foresee as a possible result of their deviant actions on the roads, what are the real, visible consequences they could fear? There are few, and none that inspire a change in behaviour. Do your job, road authorities. You are letting the killing spree continue on our roads.
That is how one man who has worked in road safety for years and seen a lifetime of carnage summed up one of our problems on national roads. The other one: a lack of real consequences for illegal driving behaviour.
Most importantly, a lack of visible policing along the national roads allows drivers to continue breaking the law and putting the lives of others at risk. There is no real cost for their attitude or behaviour, aside from a crash and injury or death. But before millions are spent and another life lost, why not institute globally recognised strategies that could significantly reduce the carnage? Key is law enforcement visibility and response to law breaking and costly punishments. The lack of law enforcement between roadblocks allows reckless, selfish, arrogant driving to thrive with impunity. Moreover, the absence of effective punishment undermines all other road-safety campaigns. Why would someone change their behaviour when the cost is minimal? One definition of insanity is to do a thing over and over again and expect different results. Most of the horror on our roads, if not all, is in some way related to negligence, arrogance, bad decision-making, haste and simple ignorance. Yet traffic authorities remain glaringly absent from the roads.
No licences are suspended and no cars impounded. Law breakers thrive. Each year another family is plunged into the depths of grief, their lives forever changed.
Each year our cash-strapped government forks out millions in healthcare costs.
This killing spree cannot be stopped if authorities are not visible along the road and punishments remain weak. This is a national emergency and action is needed now. Apart from death or injury, which many of the culprits clearly don't foresee as a possible result of their deviant actions on the roads, what are the real, visible consequences they could fear? There are few, and none that inspire a change in behaviour. Do your job, road authorities. You are letting the killing spree continue on our roads.
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Namibian Sun
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