They tell us that the United States gets away with everything because there’s nothing to enforce any international law. Without any enforcement mechanism, the law lacks teeth. What happens when the law has teeth that it never shows? Isn’t it pretty much the same?
How annoying is it to sit in the traffic department waiting for one queue to clear out so you can sign a paper to sit in the next queue? The only thing more annoying is noticing how many people get away with not doing it.
Taxis — a law unto themselves
The whole concept of licensing, road rules and enforcement is to avoid road accidents. It doesn’t make much sense if there’s no enforcement, and as it becomes increasingly evident that there’s no enforcement, you’re going to see less compliance.
With taxis being a law unto themselves, you can’t say you’re surprised by the scholar transport accident in Vanderbijlpark, in the Vaal. It’s horrific, and the driver’s driving, from the videos, seemed idiotic, but it’s not a unique experience on South African roads.
From the highways to the inner city, anybody who has been on these streets will tell you of recurring close calls they’ve had with taxis. It’s not new for overloading, unlicensed and questionably maintained taxis to overtake several vehicles on the solid line.
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One must also spare a thought for the driver. At 22 years old, he’s probably also been lifted in school taxis this decade, and to some degree, as reckless as his actions were, thought it was just the way to drive. Why wouldn’t he if he and most taxi drivers have been doing it, and getting away with it, for so long?
Law enforcement to blame?
Blame the driver for the reckless driving and overloading. Blame the owner for poor maintenance. But don’t forget to blame law enforcement for allowing the culture of bad driving to fester.
All of a sudden, 67 school transport vehicles are impounded because of safety concerns? Those 67 vehicles were on the road a week prior. Why did it take a tragedy for this kind of safety action to happen?
It’s not like the taxi industry has a great record when it comes to safety, so why was it effectively left in their hands until now? There’s a reason you seldom see policymakers riding in taxis. There’s a reason you seldom see the bosses in their own vehicles. They know the thing that everybody is too afraid to admit —a shocking number of taxis and drivers are unsafe.
Now, if you have to go to school or work, you might have no other option than to use a taxi. Forget housing and water for a moment. Don’t we have this thing called a right to life? It’s pretty difficult to afford every other right imaginable to a dead person, so protecting the right to life is, in many respects, a prerequisite. Ensuring that the only means of transport for many people is safe seems like an obvious way of keeping people alive.
Sixty-seven vehicles that carry about 14 people each were allowed on the road until a few days ago, when they were found to be unfit… that seems like a gamble on a thousand lives a day. Meanwhile, drivers are allowed to get away with recklessly skipping lights and overtaking on the solid line. It seems like the right to life comes second to a taxi’s convenience; not just to their passengers but everybody else on the road, who are forking out ridiculous money for insurance, medical aid and the fuel levy.
And that’s before you take into account the taxis that are licensed and mechanically sound but driven by risk-takers.
It may be too dystopian to fit taxis with trackers that monitor their weight and driving. It may even be unfair to target just taxis. What would be ideal, though, is if the law that applies to the rest of us can also be applied to taxis and their drivers without the need for a tragedy before law enforcement acts.
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