My Blog

Shouldn't the Lawmakers suffer the same Rules as Everyone Else?

I propose that the most suitable punishment for the assorted nincompoops, bureaucrats and civil servants in Singapore responsible for drawing up and enforcing the traffic regulations in this country, is to force them to actually drive on the roads according to the rules for 4 hours each day. Should they break any of the traffic rules, then they should be fined and punished twice as much as the public.

How many traffic cops and government ministers in their chauffer driven limos surrounded by bodyguards and police outriders drive within the speed limits on the roads? From my own observation this is not the case, even if the traffic cop is not in fact pursuing someone who has broken the rules. If there should be a reason for some people to routinely drive faster than others, then it is an admission that the speed limit set on the road is incorrect, and that in fact driving faster is not responsible for more road accidents as is often claimed. Everyone knows that accidents are caused by bad or inexperienced drivers, poorly maintained equipment and badly designed roads. Reckless driving, not concentrating and poor judgement are responsible for more mishaps than speed on the road.

Obviously the traffic cops and those who set the traffic rules do not know this because most of them probably do not drive a car themselves, which is the reason that I have put forward my proposal to punish them and make them understand their shortcomings. We can easily find many examples of perfectly straight roads that are capable of supporting speed limits in excess of the current 50 or 60 kph. In addition, the express-way speeds of 80 or 90 kph are way to slow in Singapore and should be raised to at least 110 kph.

In addition, all trucks that are not allowed to offically travel more than 60 kph should either be allowed to go faster on the express-ways or not allowed on them in the first place. It appears that the traffic cops are the only ones who do not seem to know that most of these trucks normally travel at 80 kph or more anyway! So much for the enforcement of the rules.
I think this alone illustrates clearly how out of touch most of the rule makers are with reality, and stresses the need to forcibly put them on the road daily in order to see what actually goes on.