We cannot sit back as our roads become death traps

Editor, Refer to Junior Sabena Mutabazi’s article, ‘Will hefty fines make our roads safe and dependable?’ (The New Times, Thursday, August 14, 2014). We have seen a lot of bleating this week regarding the increase in fines to stem the growing death and blighted lives due to the careless drivers who have made our roads death traps. Contrary to what some think, high financial penalties judiciously combined with criminal prosecution and the withdrawal of driving permits for the most egregious offenders have proved an effective deterrence in many countries. Yes, high monetary fines may increase the incentive for the offender to try to offer a bribe to the police to reduce the overall financial cost of offending. But the counter-response to this is not to reverse the penalty increases. It is rather to also increase the costs for those caught trying to bribe as well as those who accept to be bribed. It is also important to understand that even with the current ridiculously low levels of financial penalties for various forms of traffic offenses, the temptation to bribe and opportunities to gain from bribery already exist. The only reason this phenomenon is not yet out of control is fear of the consequences by both sides of the potential transaction were either of the parties part of a sting operation or were they caught because of any other reason. This, therefore, suggests that the rise in fines for serious contraventions of the traffic code that puts other road users at risk should be accompanied by an increase in anti-corruption efforts, rather than desist from raising the cost to offenders from their transforming our roads into killing fields rather than an essential communications artery. Mwene Kalinda, Rwanda

Opinions

We cannot sit back as our roads become death traps