Traffic cops are ‘people we love to hate’ simply because they catch us doing the things we shouldn’t.
Who hasn’t complained about them hiding in ambush, just waiting for the next poor victim to speed by, or fining us for failing to comply with roadworthiness for such a minimal infringement as a cracked tail light?
They are the target of much abuse and the butt of many a joke – but in fact theirs is an unenviable job, one in which they literally put their lives on the line.
For example, who knows what awaits them when a vehicle with darkly tinted windows is pulled over at night?
And, as we saw last week, stepping out in front of a speeding vehicle that is approaching a roadblock carries inherent risk.
The assumption is that the driver will clearly see the roadblock ahead and yield to the highly visible officials manning the blockade.
In this case the driver failed to stop, and ploughed into the two traffic cops, injuring one seriously.
The incident was further worsened by the fact that the driver had allegedly refused to respond to a passenger’s request to slow down, especially since the windscreen had reportedly misted up.
No permit
Another shock came when, on investigation, it appeared the driver did not have the required public transport permit necessary to carry passengers.
In other words, he was not licenced to drive the taxi, effectively adding extra risk to its passengers.
And the story of commuters being reviled by drivers merely for wanting a safe journey is an oft-recurring one.
While the matter is still to appear before the courts, this kind of incident is exactly what upsets those mentioned at the start of this article.
The argument (or at least the perception) is: traffic police rely on ‘easy targets’ – by use of speed traps – to garner the millions needed to help balance the municipality’s books.
Not that one condones speeding, but all this while red robot-jumping, over-loaded trucks and unlicenced drivers pose far greater threats to the safety of all road users.
Even the roadblock at which the unfortunate officers were sadly injured was in all likelihood set up to catch those with outstanding speed fines.
This while moving violations and unlicenced drivers receive little or no attention, so it seems.
The bottom line is, most people would like to see more traffic patrol cars out on the road, and fewer parked in numbers at static road blocks or cops behind speed cameras.
