Dear Editor,
It seems as if certain things will never change. Six are now dead due to reckless driving. For such an accident as occurred at Mahaica on Saturday night, I must assume that the minibus was speeding. I am a regular traveller by night, and from observation I have seen many bus drivers drive above 110kph. Many of them are reluctant to slow down, even when they see potential danger. I wonder if there is no braking system on the buses. Furthermore some buses do not have lights which are bright enough to be travelling at a fast rate.
The zero tolerance campaign on speeding was unsuccessful in my opinion. The best way to prevent speeding motorists is to conduct regular patrols along the roadways, something I rarely observe, and never saw at night. What is more prevalent is to see the traffic officer hiding in a corner with a speed-gun, and ambushing an oncoming vehicle that might be driving at only 5 km above the limit. When minibuses pass the officers, it is business as usual. It seems as if the idea of using speed-guns is to earn money, rather than to prevent speeding. I was truly amazed at the joy of police officers when they caught someone who was just above the speed limit in a 50km zone. If we really want to stop all the reckless driving, we would have to rethink our strategies urgently.
Yours faithfully,
Riaz N Khan
