Fines are not the only solution

The government’s strategy to reduce road accidents seems to be very straight forward:

  • Installation of Speed Cameras in some regions and later increase the speed limit because the authorities realized that when people drive slowly, the busiest part of the motorway becomes like hell, thus slowing down part of the country
  • Playing hide and seek with the mobile speed cameras
  • Increasing fines to discourage people from violating existing laws

Despite his long service in the police force, the Prime Ministers’ special security advisor, Mr Ben Buntipilly has still not understood that not all road accidents are caused by drivers. Appointed a few months ago, no concrete actions have been taken yet.

As you can see above, even some members of the police force are unaware that vehicles should not be parked on double yellow lines or on pavements 🙂

Coming back to the topic, millions of rupees are contributed (or rather, taxes that Mauritians are forced to pay) to the government and this amount is surely growing exponentially with the introduction of speed cameras. Yet, the authorities only concentrate on building new roads to cater for the increasing number of vehicles, around 350, 000 vehicles if I correctly heard a few days ago.

[yashvinblogsfan]

At the end of the day, the sole strategy remains “Punishing drivers by making them pay (money of course)”. In my opinion, the introduction of “Point System” will definitely make drivers think twice. Everyone will be treated equally, whether the rich or the poor. So, you might rarely see those drivers playing “crazy taxi” on our roads or witness the rich ones do anything they like because of their huge bank accounts.

[Picture updated on 18 Jan 2011 : Removed the license car plate number]

Our road infrastructure definitely needs improvement. Just to give you an example : The Triolet By Pass Road includes about 4 roundabouts. Instead of designing better roads to cater for a fluid traffic for the growing number of vehicles, these roundabouts are pretty inconvenient and prone places for accidents.

Some additional areas of improvement : Road markings, visibility at night, bus lay-by, informing the population about defensive (and preventive) driving, more rigorous control for the quality and reliability of vehicles (Vehicle Fitness).

Anything more to share on your behalf?

17 thoughts on “Fines are not the only solution”

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  1. Completely agree with u Yashvin. Paying fines wont make ppl drive better. There are so many ppl who just dnt respect the “Code de la route”.
    Govt should invest on existing infrastructure like you mentioned rather than creating more roads on our limited island.
    Its as if there is no planning and decisions are only taken to suit the immediate problems.
    pffff, ggn super crize kan mo conduire moi… 😛

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  2. The solution is the re-evaluation (highway code + driving test) of the driver’s abilities on a triennial (once every 3 years) basis. The current rating system should incl. all driving offenses, age of the driver, and other parameters which affect the driver’s ability to drive. Offences can lead to driving bans ranging from 1 year to 10 years. The tests can be scheduled at your local municipal/city council/police station. At first glance, it is feasible. Yashvin, work on the specifics and get back to us.

    Rail transport can be introduced and it is safer and greener than other means of transports.

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  3. Increasing fine only decreases the number of fine payers. How?

    People like “paying” a lower price with the police officer himself 😀

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  4. @Spectre:
    Dakor: mo ti pou dire sak 5 ans, mais le concept est le même: enn dimoun so ability napa pareil entier la-vie. Ek mo tann dir ki ena certain pays mett bann conditions stricts pou capav tini volant / guidon: si, par exemple ou ena enn hearing disability ek maiy ou pé conduire sans ou hearing aid, ou permis sauter / points diminuer. Pareil pou saki siposé mett linett.
    Enn suggestion additionnel: premium l’assurance ti bizin influencer / calculer lors quantité infractions ki ou finn comett: plis ou finn condamné = plis ou enn liability pou l’assurance assure ou vehicule ek so bann occupants. Mais non, ici l’assurance c’est bann usuriers ki la zis pou prend kass ek blier payer quand problem arriver.

    @Preena:
    Pa ou tousel ki gagne criz quand condirr. Mais keep cool, obey speed limits / road furniture (markings, posts, signals, etc) and forget your ego pendant ou pé condirr, sa ava aide ou arrive à destination petett en retard mais plus probablement en enn sel morceau…

    @ Yashvin:
    “even some members of the police force are unaware that vehicles should not be parked on double yellow lines or on pavements ”
    Wai, nek faire enn ti lé-tour kott station la-poliss Mahébourg non: ena tou configurations ki ou envie pou parking offences, commis par bann policiers la-mem. Alorss ou mazinn enn koutt niveau moralité bann flics la-mem: pena enn la-dans – mem pas bann hihg-ranking officials – ki’nn trouver ki li pas korek montrer zott au-dessus de la-loi ek ki fauder montrer l’exemple. Asterr si zott-mem zott pas respecter la-loi, zott expect nous respecter enn z’affer ki zott-mem zott pas respecter. Apré ena zott commissaire dire lor radio fek-la ki fauder moriciens prend zott responsabilité… Which is which?

    “witness the rich ones do anything they like because of their huge bank accounts.”
    Weh, mo cwar mo’nn deza dirr li ici: en Suisse, ou l’amann li calculé d’apré ou patrimoine: donc, plis ou loto so CC grand ek plis ou patrimoine (foncier, bancaire et autre) grand, pliss ou l’amann fort.
    Mais ena enn ti-truc mo pa comprend: si gagne ou vehicule dans enn photo pris par enn speed-camera, ou sel recours pou dire ki pas ou ki bizin payer, c’est guette photo-la, mais ça, li coute Rs2,000 aparament… Bizarre sa: si enn dimoune inn faire exces de vitesse ar ou loto, ou bizin payer pou demontrer ou l’innocence?? Mais (anyone with legal background please help me here) “burden of proof” c’est lors accusateur normalement, non? Ek l’accusatuer dans nou cas, c’est l’État ki ena photo-la, ena ou l’identité (pa li-mem ki issue ou carte d’identité?) etc. Donc, si li’nn capav faire le linking entre ou loto so niméro avec ou l’adresse, li pa capav faire linking entre foto ou figir ek le conducteur?? Abé la, n’importe ki capave tire enn photo brite-brite ek dire ki ou ki’nn faire kikchose… Ek additionally, depi quand enn photo admissible en cour, hein? Parski ici, rien n’est officiel tant ki la-cour pa’nn accepter: ou faire enn commentaire lors facebook, ou gagne beze, mais ou cite enn source internet, li pas valable… Which is which?

    “these roundabouts are pretty inconvenient and prone places for accidents.”
    Wai, ena rond-point dans Ébène oussi bann carrefours de la mort. Ek boukou lezot place kot pe attane enn personalité important mort avant ki decide faire kikchose…

    “informing the population about defensive (and preventive) driving”
    Good, but not enough ça: ou rappel dans zardin z’enfants ki ena bann mini-circuits avec road marking ek road signage tou complett? Abé ki-fer pa mett sa dans TOU lekol maternelle / primaire pou ki sa fini imprime dans l’esprit bann zenfant ki bann road usage etiquette fauder ena quand condirr.

    “more rigorous control for the quality and reliability of vehicles (Vehicle Fitness)”
    Si ou faire ça couma bizin faire mo bourzwaa, fauder ena mari dose fiel ha! Just imagine: according to my personal stats, more than 60% of buses would be pulled out from the roads if rigorously tested as you suggest. Why? Bein, according to a guy who happens to make repairs to vehicles, a vehicle’s fitness becomes ‘de facto’ invalid when four or more offences are found on it. Donc, si dans ou vehicule ou ena 4 infractions NTA, NTA sipposé rass ou fitness ek ou bizin alle re-faire tou défauts avant retourne faire fitness test. Abé la, je mets ma main au feu: comié biss ki passe TOU ça 10 ti-criterr la:
    1) Ena fire extinguisher?
    2) tou zott signal lights (stop, direction, warning, fog/dim/full, headlights) fully operational?
    3) Ena minimum clearance entre bann sièges passager?
    4) Ena ti-pavion rouz à bord?
    5) Pare-brise pas félé?
    6) Péna di-luile moterr/frein pé suinté?
    7) Pas coulé quand la-pli tombé?
    8) Capave tourné dans contour sans encroach on right-hand side lane?
    9) Pena problem la-tole – cabossé, rayé, troué etc?
    10) Pena banquette arrière pe obstrué emergency exit?
    Si autorité ti vraiment rempli so role, si bann fonctionnaire faire zott travail strictement ek d’apré saki l’éthique demander pou assure safety bann road-users, pas ti bizin pé diskité la. Mais non, si faire sa, ena tellement conséquences. Enn au-hazard: kouma pou gagne biss pou amenn agents ek so deg dans meeting 1er Mai ? Vann 15-places / 9-places? Taxi marron?

    Finalement, tellement politiciens inn mett la-mé partout, tout inn pourri. Couma-dir enn cabri inn rentre dans enn zardin ek inn mett la-bouss dans tou légim: tou vinn non-comestible!

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  5. I’ve written something on the matter : http://banalit.es/code

    Many of your proposals are cross checked in it. The main thing though is to reform the way the licence is given out and how people abide by road laws. It is the way the authorities deal with these rules and regulations along with investment in better infrastructure and driver education that will change things.

    As I stated in my article, I’m not a better driver than another. I do understand though that even if I might think that I’m a good driver, my life and the life of others are in my hands, be they sitting in my car or in another.

    All in all, the best solution remains driver education and this also means the police force.

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  11. MBC has been saying that accidents are up by about 11% (right?) but nobody has even once mentioned that the rate of accident per vehicles has actually gone down! So THERE ARE LESS ACCIDENTS now. How? the number of vehicles was up by 15% but accidents are by 11% (only).

    Every been ticketed by a radar at Ripailles, with a 40 kph limit in the middle sugarcane fields? I have. And that too on a day, where the motorway was not under construction, and the road was perfectly safe to drive at 60…

    Expiry of driving licenses every 7 years would be a good thing according to me. So many middle age drivers don’t even know about lane discipline in roundabouts…

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  14. Ena ki pe dire “A HREF=”http://www.lexpress.mu/services/epaper-112967-b-infrastructures-publiques-un-reseau-routier-mal-concu-b.html”>simé mal faire. Ek lakoz lli koutt trop cher, preferre li res koumsa-mem nou crever plito.

    Peuple admirable qui vote pour des connards députés egalement admirables.

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  16. Pingback: Government plans to introduce regulations for fresh holders of driving permits | Yashvin, pages of my life

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