The carnage on the roadsThe carnage on the roads caused by kombi drivers fleeing from the police should be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
NewsDay Editorial
On Wednesday, an innocent passerby was knocked down by a kombi fleeing from the police just outside NewsDay offices. Such incidents, where people are either maimed or killed are increasing daily.
While the police and the kombi drivers are largely to blame for the cat-and mouse games they play on the roads, the kombi owners are the most culpable. Commuters will testify that kombi drivers try by all means to evade police roadblocks because they would be aware of the defects and shortcomings of the vehicles they drive.
These shortcomings include inadequate papers such as road permits and vehicle and passenger insurance.
The owners of the vehicle would be aware of these shortcomings, but because of the love of money, they unleash such kombis onto our roads.
These owners of commuter omnibuses are the root cause of the problems on our roads. They set money targets for their crews and to the young and reckless drivers, this serves as motivation for speeding despite the poor conditions of the vehicles.
To meet the set targets, the kombi drivers combine overloading with speeding, a sure recipe for disaster. The owners would be fully aware of this and they do not supervise their employees because what they want is money without caring a hoot about the safety of passengers.
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While kombi drivers should be severely punished for reckless driving, fleeing from the cops and causing deaths on the roads, the owners should face equally stern measures for allowing vehicles with shortcomings to be on the roads.
The law in this country forbids anyone below the age of 25 to drive public transport vehicles, but the owners of these vehicles knowingly employ people who are under-age to drive. They should be severely punished — and we propose jail — for employing under-age and under-qualified drivers and unleashing dangerous vehicles onto our roads.
While their crew are punished for overloading, the owners should be punished too so that they are strict with their drivers. This will motivate them to read the riot act.
What we are saying is that the owners are the real culprits, the root cause of the problem. If they restrain themselves from greed, they would ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy, and their crews respect the laws so that they do not speed and overload.
If the owners of these kombis are punished, they will be more careful about whom they employ. They would supervise the conduct of their employees in a more diligent manner. The current forms of punishment seem to have no deterrent effect on both the kombi drivers and the vehicles owners, so a relook at the form of punishment for each crime should be urgently done and jail terms should be considered.
We need to save lives by protecting innocent people from the marauding kombi drivers who have the tacit backing of their employers. caused by kombi drivers fleeing from the police should be dealt with as a matter of urgency. On Wednesday, an innocent passerby was knocked down by a kombi fleeing from the police just outside NewsDay offices. Such incidents, where people are either maimed or killed are increasing daily.
While the police and the kombi drivers are largely to blame for the cat-and mouse games they play on the roads, the kombi owners are the most culpable. Commuters will testify that kombi drivers try by all means to evade police roadblocks because they would be aware of the defects and shortcomings of the vehicles they drive. These shortcomings include inadequate papers such as road permits and vehicle and passenger insurance.
The owners of the vehicle would be aware of these shortcomings, but because of the love of money, they unleash such kombis onto our roads.
These owners of commuter omnibuses are the root cause of the problems on our roads. They set money targets for their crews and to the young and reckless drivers, this serves as motivation for speeding despite the poor conditions of the vehicles.
To meet the set targets, the kombi drivers combine overloading with speeding, a sure recipe for disaster. The owners would be fully aware of this and they do not supervise their employees because what they want is money without caring a hoot about the safety of passengers.
While kombi drivers should be severely punished for reckless driving, fleeing from the cops and causing deaths on the roads, the owners should face equally stern measures for allowing vehicles with shortcomings to be on the roads.
The law in this country forbids anyone below the age of 25 to drive public transport vehicles, but the owners of these vehicles knowingly employ people who are under-age to drive. They should be severely punished — and we propose jail — for employing under-age and under-qualified drivers and unleashing dangerous vehicles onto our roads.
While their crew are punished for overloading, the owners should be punished too so that they are strict with their drivers. This will motivate them to read the riot act.
What we are saying is that the owners are the real culprits, the root cause of the problem. If they restrain themselves from greed, they would ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy, and their crews respect the laws so that they do not speed and overload.
If the owners of these kombis are punished, they will be more careful about whom they employ. They would supervise the conduct of their employees in a more diligent manner. The current forms of punishment seem to have no deterrent effect on both the kombi drivers and the vehicles owners, so a relook at the form of punishment for each crime should be urgently done and jail terms should be considered.
We need to save lives by protecting innocent people from the marauding kombi drivers who have the tacit backing of their employers.
