Poor traffic control

Richard Smeets, Fish Hoek

Being a temporary resident in this beautiful part of the world opened my eyes to how poor the traffic is run, to say the least.

Coming from Mbombela, Mphumalanga, it is shocking to see the rubbish that is allowed on the roads: the cars and trucks (yes even police-vans) without working lights, cars falling apart and vehicles with poor or no brakes.

An unroadworthy vehicle should not be on the streets.

The irony is that when you go for a driving licence test and one of your lights is not working, you fail, as happened to a friend of mine.

Fingers are always pointed at taxis, but they are not the only culprits. In Europe at roadblocks, everything is checked, not merely your licence. If you are at fault, you will be given the chance to rectify things or get a warning.

The other very frustrating thing with traffic is the flow: people driving 35 to 45km/* in a 60km/* zone for no reason at all are dangerous and should be pulled over and investigated.

Speed does not always kill; unroadworthy vehicles do.