Dear Editor,

I agree that they drive bad, break out of the line, run the red light, and do all manner of dangerous activities on the roads. But we also hear that they amass a lot of traffic tickets for these nefarious activities.

Who gives them these tickets? We can all agree that, by law, only police officers can issue a ticket. And what happens to that ticket? Somehow it is supposed to end up in the courts. If you look at the ticket, it gives a court date for those who miss the payment deadline or wish to contest the ticket. This suggests that the court management system gets the records from the ticket.

I recently got a ticket for not wearing my seat belt and one of the things I noticed when I went to court is the lack of a proper management information system. I gave the lady at the window my ticket and she went through some files and later confirmed that my ticket was in play. However, it seemed to me that she used my own ticket to start the court proceedings. I should have been able to go to court and see a printed list with my name on it. That is what information systems do.

But, let me go back to the police officer who issues the ticket. Now any sensible system would have allowed that police officer to either call in or text in the vehicle information or driver information to discern if the person he or she is ticketing has prior tickets and warrants. Well, you could say the police are sometimes not interested in doing that and more interested in getting a “ting”. Now that brings into focus the need for bodycams to monitor these activities and raises the question of why they have not yet been implemented.

We have had these amnesties and calls for amnesties before, but I do not blame the taxi men, I blame a system and Government that constantly fails to deliver for the man and woman in the streets.

But, alas, are not these transport operators also used by the political directorate to carry people to vote each election day? With the Government saying they are not budging on this amnesty, I wonder if these taxi men will have good memories when these same leaders ask them to carry people to vote? Or will they simply take the pay and move on.

Mark Trought

www.schoolmanagerhub.com