Another day, another awful tragedy on our roads.
This time, 13 young people robbed of their future, parents robbed of their children, a country robbed of potential leaders.
And, like so many of the other crashes on our roads, this one seems to have been entirely preventable.
Witnesses at the scene of the horror collision in Vanderbijlpark yesterday morning between a scholar transport vehicle and a massive tipper truck say they saw the vehicle carrying the pupils being driven at high speed, with the driver apparently trying to overtake five vehicles in the face of oncoming traffic.
Although an official investigation has still to be concluded, we don’t doubt what those witnesses saw.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: Vanderbijlpark scholar transport crash kills 13 pupils
And, as expected, there has been more hand-wringing from the authorities, more pledges of probes and crackdowns.
While there needs to be a thorough look at the whole dodgy scholar transport sector, the problem is far broader than just those who carry children for reward.
Many South African drivers are, effectively, untrained because they have bought their licences.
That will continue until corruption is rooted out.
And driving behaviour won’t improve until there is effective policing of moving violations and punishment of offenders.
NOW READ: How to make sure your child is safe on the way to school this year
