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There are indications that the Government is taking steps to deal with the country’s alarming rate of accidents and the number of deaths associated with them. So far this year public transporters have caused nearly 100 deaths. Our sister publication, The Sunday Mail, reports that one of the proposals to contain road carnage are stiffer penalties for offenders. There are also proposals to stop night driving for public transport. That covers the period 9pm to 5am.

Needless to say there are arguments for and against these measures. Similarly, there are arguments about their efficacy or effectiveness.

Obviously people who operate bus companies will feel bitter against such measures, noble as they may sound. Yet if the measures were to achieve the intended goal, that would be good for the nation. That is provided night driving per se is the biggest contributory factor to the high rate of road accidents and deaths.

It is, however, good that these are mere proposals. The first point is that Government is showing that it is concerned about the number of lives lost on our national roads, in the majority of cases through human error. The second is that by making the proposals, those who operate public transport are being offered an opportunity to make their input.

It is evident that no one has the correct answer. Yet people are being killed. Those who operate public transport can help come up with a workable way to eliminate road carnage. This might relate to the type and qualifications of the drivers they employ given that a majority of the accidents are blamed on human error.

But the problems could also be mechanical, then compounded by speeding.

It will also be important to look at the working conditions of the drivers and the targets set by the employers. It has been argued that drivers are involved in accidents due to fatigue, hence the majority of the fatalities occur at night.

The drivers are either given targets that are too high and never get time to rest or are under-qualified because employers don’t want to pay people with the right minimum requirements. We view this as putting profit above human life, something we find utterly repugnant.

Government needs to engage all the stakeholders to locate the root cause of the problem. It is in this spirit that penalties against offenders must be commensurate with the crime. This can only be achieved by looking closely at the views of both the drivers and their employers. Members of the public also have views.

It would not be prudent to take measures against public transport operators which force them out of business. The travelling public also has an input. Those engaged in cross border trading sometimes want to reach their destinations early in the morning so they can do their shopping and return in the evening. A key consideration here is that they want to cut out costs of accommodation.

Imposing a blanket ban on night driving will certainly affect their margins as it would now mean spending more time. So we have a clash between safety considerations on the part of Government and profitability for the traders. Dialogue will be very important in reaching a middle ground.

The good thing is that a positive step is being taken and that those given the opportunity to make contributions will do so in good faith for the good of the nation. Like they say, the best outcome is a win-win solution rather than punishment.

It might even be necessary to conduct a mini-research to find out if indeed night driving per se is the major cause of accidents. Let’s give the nation a chance to debate this, but also taking into account the gravity of the situation. No single life deserves to be lost on our roads.