Road safety in the spotlight once again

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Indeed, we live in interesting times, where vehicles catch fire, a musical (really?) scoops 14 Oscar nominations and the ANC tries to explain the black ops campaign.

Maybe, just maybe, soon we might also be witness to new laws passed to ensure greater road safety.

Of course, talks over road safety have been sparked by the recent 1 700 deaths suffered over the holiday season.

This has prompted calls for classifying drunk driving as a level-five offence (same as murder), while the speed limit on our roads are under discussion.

For those who can remember (many of us want to forget 2016), last year the Department of Transport proposed a number of draft regulations, published in the Government Gazette, to legislation.

This included drivers to be re-evaluated when renewing a licence; no more than five people to be carried in a bakkie load bed; children not to be transported in a bakkie load bed; speed limits to be reduced from 60 to 40km/h in urban areas, from 100 to 80km/h in rural areas and from 120 to 100km/h on freeways running through a residential area; and goods vehicles above 9 000kg GVM to be banned from public roads during peak travelling times

One new law has already passed, which requires drivers to provide proof of residence when renewing a driver’s licence or vehicle licence disk.

In essence, what the transport department is pushing for is to compel drivers to take a practical test when renewing a driver’s licence.

Now just imagine what an administrative nightmare will unfold! It is already a huge battle just to renew your licence (waiting in the queue which seems to stretch into seasons).

It would become an insurmountable task to renew your licence if all drivers need to take a practical test again. This task, I believe, might be even more difficult to complete than climbing over Trump’s wall (by the way, Mexico’s president refuses to pay for such an ambitious project).

I don’t think forcing someone to retake their practical will solve the problem on our roads.

What I would rather suggest to our transport department is for drivers to brush up on their theoretical knowledge of road rules, signs and traffic laws.

After all, it seems a lot of drivers have no clue whatsoever what to do when it comes to a traffic circle. Thank goodness the drivers of SA don’t live Paris, France, where circles are far more daunting to navigate.

The other day, in the company of my family, we were crossing a stretch of road in a parking lot heading to the entrance of a shopping centre.

Now to cross this road, there is a pedestrian crossing, which should make it safe to cross.

Lo and behold, out of the corner of my eye I saw this lumbering SUV heading for us, and fortunately I called my family to halt before they crossed, for I realised this SUV had no qualms about speeding over a pedestrian crossing and therefore putting people’s lives in danger.

By the way, regarding pedestrian crossings, traffic rules dictate that a motorist MUST give way to any pedestrian on or about to enter the crossing on the motorist’s side of the road.

And what about when the traffic light turns amber? It is not a signal to speed up, but to slow down.

And what about the indicator on your vehicle? It is not there for decoration. It plays a vital role in road safety, yet it seems a lot of drivers choose to ignore using the indicator properly (if they use it at all).

I therefore do not believe we sit with a lack of competency when it comes to physically driving a vehicle safely, but rather a blatant disregard for road safety and rules, or maybe we are sitting with ignorance and lack of understanding regarding traffic laws.

And no, it will not help to reduce the speed limit. Motorists will still speed, and motorists will still think a road through the suburb looks like the track at Kyalami.

We need to, therefore, first get our drivers on track when it comes to road safety, laws and rules.

Secondly, we need to get our drivers to adopt a safety mindset where we keep other motorists and pedestrians in mind (yes, I know the taxis are causing havoc on the roads).

And it doesn’t help to say we will not drive with greater caution and safety if others drive like hooligans. We need to set an example, and every small effort will make a difference.

And then, yes, we can make our roads great again!