Just a few days ago, a whole hoo-haa was made when traffic officers fined a motorist for having his elbow sticking out of his window. How on earth that could be an offence is beyond me as it surely harms no-one in any way. All it is, is another idiotic rule, regulation or statute, designed to extract money from the citizens and bolster the states coffers and might I add, the coffers that are pillaged by a super corrupt regime.
In Parys, my hometown, we regularly see much worse things happening, especially over weekends when locals get married. On almost every Saturday we see taxis and fancy cars passing our shops by at speeds way above 60km's per hour, hooting and having people hanging more than halfway out of the windows. Bakkies are also driven with people standing upright in the back, something which surely can lead to a person falling off and causing accidents and injuries to other road-users. Some of these are children and obviously not one of them is are wearing a seat belt either.
I have also seen taxis driving in circles all around a stop streets during such events and the people get abusive if another road-user tries to get them to stop this dangerous action. Stop signs are for the most part also ignored, but that is something that is common practice by most townsfolk. At the stop street across from my house, I can video record at least 50 cars per hour that simply crosses without stopping.
What irks me most is that not once in 8 years have I seen a traffic cop doing anything about this practice. They do however regularly stop people, who for the most part are known to have licenses, to yet again check what I can only assume is if the person actually has the license with him. That requirement also find absolutely idiotic and of no use, as these cops can easily check whether any driver has a valid license. With so many false licenses being used anyway it would make much more sense to call in and make sure the license is valid and legal.
Personally I am totally against licenses but would prefer a system where private road-users are simply required to attend a proper driving course, do a few months of driving as a learner under strict control and must have sufficient insurance to cover any damage he or she causes. The risk of loosing insurance cover will force people to be much more careful and safe road-users. Professional road-users, those who use roads to make money, should however additionally be licensed and strictly controlled.
Clearly RSA's roads are deathtraps, as the way the state and their legal enforcers operate are designed to extract money from citizens, with road safety as a nice excuse to make it all look legal.
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