The issue of getting a driver's license has erupted a lot of questions in regards to who is at fault for the mass accidents that kill a dozen people everyday in Durban and the whole of South Africa in general. In the eyes of many, taxi drivers seem to be number one on the list followed by drunk drivers who are mainly youngsters. In order to get to the bottom of this matter, I thought it would be interesting if the 'bad guys' would say their minds.
This task was not easy for me as im not zulu and most of those i interviewed prefered to be addressed in their vernacular language but a settlement was arranged so we got down to it. From one of the taxi drivers' point of view(prefered to remain anonymous), accidents are indeed accidents. If anybody should be blamed for the faults that happen on the roads then it should be all road users. He went on to explain that a distinct group of people should not be highlighted as the bad guys because it's not all taxi drivers who are bad drivers. "A large number of this 'kids' who just got hold of their licences don't seem to know exactly what is required of them on the roads", said one of the drivers.
Among other opinions was one that suggested that they(taxi drivers) are actually people who are good at what they do since everyday of every week they wake up to drive. So it is very absurd to claim that a person who does the same thing each day of their life can find themselves still being bad at it. Yes there are some rotten potatoes in the bag but not all are rotten. Others indicated that driving a taxi is a very difficult job as each moment entails being responsible for the lives they are carrying hence they have to be aware and awake in order to get from point a to b.
The other taxi drivers stated that all they are doing is trying to get food on the table for their families hence they try to do their jobs the best way they know how. They rounded up by telling me that if they didn't do their jobs properly then they would be job-less but since they are still behind the wheel that means that they are doing as they should.
This aspect of matters left me very dumbfounded as I never imagined I would get such well reasoned explanation of the taxi drivers. This then leaves the question open- WHO IS TO BLAME? In fact, IS THERE A NEED TO BLAME ANYONE? Isn't it up to each and everyone of us, South Africans to always drive as careful as possible each moment of each day?.....DRIVE AS WELL AND DISCIPLINED AS YOU WERE THAT FIRST DAY YOU WERE BEHIND THE WHEEL!
posted by This Eye @ 12:25 PM
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