ToxicBunny
Oi! Leave me out of this...
It frustrates the living hell out of me.
I do my best to be a law abiding road user, and you see everyone around you just doing as they damn well please, even in front of metro cops, and nothing happens.
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Drastic proposal to curb road carnage
- Thread starter daveza
- Start date
It frustrates the living hell out of me.
I do my best to be a law abiding road user, and you see everyone around you just doing as they damn well please, even in front of metro cops, and nothing happens.
Enforcing the law for the Traffic Department is catching out people during the day when everyone is running around trying to make a living, they will look for a spot to trap people for speeding like the M5 going North near Athlone, where the speed drops from 100 to 80, you will get a R300/R400 fine in the post for mistakingly doing 100 in a 80 zone, in all fairness to us the road has 3 lanes or more each side and the centre island is concrete and is well lit, hardly a place which needs serious speed enforcement.
While it is still illegal and the fine imposed is right, nothing good is coming from it in the sense of stopping the carnage on our roads as the thread title suggests, people will just pay the fine, be a few hundred Rand less for booze and fags and move on.
Nobody learns from it, the traffic departments gets some money but their effort is misplaced on easy targets who will be none the wiser until a few weeks later when the fine arrives in the post and even then most people will scratch their heads trying to recall the day or place of the fine.
Yet tonight between 23h00 and the early hours of the morning the dragsters will be sending it down the side roads and highways and every now and then you will hear of horrific accidents. Go look on the M5 how many poles get flattened on a regular basis and here and there you see the odd cross with flowers marking some tragic event.
And yes, the Taxis. In my everyday life driving around I have taught myself to ignore Taxis, if they want to pass or cut you off I just let them, even trying to hoot or indicate they are in the wrong is pointless, so I don't spend one moment getting high blood pressure for these guys, it is just not worth it.
I will never forget, about 18 years ago when my children were still very small, my son and daughter were sitting at the back of the bakkie which had a canopy, I was driving, cannot remember where the wife was, but anyway some Taxi made some really bad driving moves cutting us off and almost causing an accident. I was so furious I wanted to get out my bakkie at the next robot and put my fist into his cheeky jaw, but just at that moment I looked into the rear view mirror, saw the kids and in that instant I realised a lot of "what ifs" of what could or may happen if I tackle this clown, so I swallowed my pride, looked forward and carried on driving, but in that moment I learnt a life lesson, it was never worth it then nor would it be worth it today to get yourself worked up for a taxi, I treat them as a law unto themselves, an obstacle I must negotiate away from or around and I believe I made the best decision then and carry that forward with me to this day.
While it is still illegal and the fine imposed is right, nothing good is coming from it in the sense of stopping the carnage on our roads as the thread title suggests, people will just pay the fine, be a few hundred Rand less for booze and fags and move on.
Nobody learns from it, the traffic departments gets some money but their effort is misplaced on easy targets who will be none the wiser until a few weeks later when the fine arrives in the post and even then most people will scratch their heads trying to recall the day or place of the fine.
Yet tonight between 23h00 and the early hours of the morning the dragsters will be sending it down the side roads and highways and every now and then you will hear of horrific accidents. Go look on the M5 how many poles get flattened on a regular basis and here and there you see the odd cross with flowers marking some tragic event.
And yes, the Taxis. In my everyday life driving around I have taught myself to ignore Taxis, if they want to pass or cut you off I just let them, even trying to hoot or indicate they are in the wrong is pointless, so I don't spend one moment getting high blood pressure for these guys, it is just not worth it.
I will never forget, about 18 years ago when my children were still very small, my son and daughter were sitting at the back of the bakkie which had a canopy, I was driving, cannot remember where the wife was, but anyway some Taxi made some really bad driving moves cutting us off and almost causing an accident. I was so furious I wanted to get out my bakkie at the next robot and put my fist into his cheeky jaw, but just at that moment I looked into the rear view mirror, saw the kids and in that instant I realised a lot of "what ifs" of what could or may happen if I tackle this clown, so I swallowed my pride, looked forward and carried on driving, but in that moment I learnt a life lesson, it was never worth it then nor would it be worth it today to get yourself worked up for a taxi, I treat them as a law unto themselves, an obstacle I must negotiate away from or around and I believe I made the best decision then and carry that forward with me to this day.
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daveza
Honorary Master
thestaggy
Honorary Master
Here is an idea, instead of having the fat, useless POS Metro Police ''officers'' hiding in the bushes or walking around parking areas looking for easy money, put them on the road so they can actively police the numerous infractions that drivers commit.
They sit in the bush waiting for you to come past at 91km/h in the 80 zone but on the way there we have cars & taxis driving down the wrong side of the road, cars & (especially) taxis ignoring red traffic lights, people that don't know how to use or even know that they have indicators, people that try and park their cars in your arse, people turning from lanes that are no-turning lanes, people driving run-down heaps of junk that are on the verge of shattering into a million pieces if they hit a pot hole, etc. . .
They sit in the bush waiting for you to come past at 91km/h in the 80 zone but on the way there we have cars & taxis driving down the wrong side of the road, cars & (especially) taxis ignoring red traffic lights, people that don't know how to use or even know that they have indicators, people that try and park their cars in your arse, people turning from lanes that are no-turning lanes, people driving run-down heaps of junk that are on the verge of shattering into a million pieces if they hit a pot hole, etc. . .
The state of some of the cars on our roads leaves a lot to be desired.
The other day I saw this cloud of smoke ahead as I was driving along, I thought it was a bush fire but as I got nearer the bush fire seemed to be all over the place, so much so we could hardly see the road. The culprit of all the smoke turned out to be some bakkie belching heaps of smoke as it grumbled along. Where was the Traffic Cop, any Cop or Law Enforcement officer on that day.
I agree with thestaggy, sitting behind the bush waiting for someone to do 91 in a 80 zone is law enforcement and needed, but it seems to the man in the street that the focus of the Traffic Department is for easy targets, sitting on your bum looking through a lens isn't going to stop unlicensed and unroadworthy vehicles.
The other day I saw this cloud of smoke ahead as I was driving along, I thought it was a bush fire but as I got nearer the bush fire seemed to be all over the place, so much so we could hardly see the road. The culprit of all the smoke turned out to be some bakkie belching heaps of smoke as it grumbled along. Where was the Traffic Cop, any Cop or Law Enforcement officer on that day.
I agree with thestaggy, sitting behind the bush waiting for someone to do 91 in a 80 zone is law enforcement and needed, but it seems to the man in the street that the focus of the Traffic Department is for easy targets, sitting on your bum looking through a lens isn't going to stop unlicensed and unroadworthy vehicles.
grok
Honorary Master
The country suffers from a general state of lawlessness and the roads are just one manifestation of the problem.
I'm not saying getting rig of the ANC will clean up our roads immediately, but nobody's going to respect the law when government and especially the president doesn't.
I'm not saying getting rig of the ANC will clean up our roads immediately, but nobody's going to respect the law when government and especially the president doesn't.
I hate to break this to you, but taxis are not the only thing wrong with SA roads. People with an entitlement mentality who think it is their right to drink and drive, or drive and talk on a cellphone, or even worse, drive and text, are just as big a problem.
But those people dont like admitting that they are at fault, so they blame the taxis.
daveza
Honorary Master
No of course they aren't, but compare the % vehicles on the road that are taxis with the accident rate of that %.
cr@zydude
Honorary Master
I think that if you compare kilometers travelled, taxis will have a lower accident rate than the average.
More enforcement would be great, but people should take responsibilty. Far to many people don't bother to respect the rules.
daveza
Honorary Master
http://motoringfeed.iol.co.za/dispu...-1.1217866?ot=inmsa.ArticlePrintPageLayout.ot
The report tells us that there were 5 472 090 cars registered in South Africa on March 31 2010, weighed against 282 793 minibus taxis.
602 minibus taxi fatalities equates to 23.8 deaths per 10 000 vehicles; 6729 deaths in car accidents boils down to 12.3 per 10 000 vehicles, about half the rate for minibus taxis.
The report tells us that there were 5 472 090 cars registered in South Africa on March 31 2010, weighed against 282 793 minibus taxis.
602 minibus taxi fatalities equates to 23.8 deaths per 10 000 vehicles; 6729 deaths in car accidents boils down to 12.3 per 10 000 vehicles, about half the rate for minibus taxis.
cr@zydude
Honorary Master
But taxis probably travel more than twice as far as cars per day.
XennoX
Expert Member
The data is also skewed towards taxis. I mean they carry anywhere between 12 to 18 people, so it is logical to assume that the fatalities caused by taxis will be higher than ordinary cars. Far more accidents are caused between cars where the amount of people carried is usually less than 5. I'm pretty sure if you took the ratios of fatalities from vehicle type to type of vehicle registered you would find them to be pretty close.
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Albereth
Honorary Master
The other distortion is that pedestrians are killed in car accidents
Makron
Well-Known Member
Are license requirements for taxis the same as for sedans ?
- For not then, that is where the change must be made.
- Taxi drivers need extra training and a more comprehensive driving skill test.
Furthermore, drivers with bought licenses, must be arrested and heavily fined.
Drivers who are caught drinking and driving should shot op the spot ! :twisted:
Drivers who text and drive and also be shot !
- For not then, that is where the change must be made.
- Taxi drivers need extra training and a more comprehensive driving skill test.
Furthermore, drivers with bought licenses, must be arrested and heavily fined.
Drivers who are caught drinking and driving should shot op the spot ! :twisted:
Drivers who text and drive and also be shot !
cr@zydude
Honorary Master
Are license requirements for taxis the same as for sedans ?
- For not then, that is where the change must be made.
- Taxi drivers need extra training and a more comprehensive driving skill test.
Furthermore, drivers with bought licenses, must be arrested and heavily fined.
Drivers who are caught drinking and driving should shot op the spot ! :twisted:
Drivers who text and drive and also be shot !
I think that taxi drivers need a C1 licence, while sedan drivers need a B licence. Taxi drivers would also need a PDP.
Everyone should be put through a more rigorous driving test.
The_Unbeliever
Honorary Master
All you guys forgot the blue light brigade(s) as well....
A lot of valid points wrt lazy traffic orificers and taxis have been raised - until this get adressed properly, we can just as well continue with the status quo.
A lot of valid points wrt lazy traffic orificers and taxis have been raised - until this get adressed properly, we can just as well continue with the status quo.
