Traffic Education II Collaboration v/s Repression

In arguing the case for Education instead of Contravention as a means of reducing road carnage and bringing about more discipline on the road, I have reviewed some facts and figures and come to the conclusion that the present system of speed limits, speed bumps and unnecessary traffic lights, all contribute strongly to slow down traffic instead of improving traffic flow. Soon Mauritius will grind to a halt.

The entrepreneurial spirit in Mauritius demands that people are able to move about freely and speedily (within the limits of what is safe). It is said that ?Time is Money?.

In future, with the rapid transit railway in operation, people will have to be convinced to leave their cars at home and take the train. Improving traffic flow facilitates people?s lives and enhances industrial and business productivity.

The collaboration of everyone concerned (drivers and other travellers, law-makers, police) is the only way to lasting improvement rather than repression of one group by another. The resentment engendered by repression is well-known.

l 50 km/h speed limit

In many villages which have good pavements on both sides and are situated on a main road (e.g. Alma on the Réduit-Flacq road) the speed limit could very well be increased to 70 km/h without endangering anyone.

In certain areas where village follow village no sooner that a 50 km/h limit ends that another one starts. Drivers who keep strictly to those limits are often under very great stress to reach their destination on time. A combination of pedestrian education and 70km/h limit would help, with of course many exceptions e.g. in the villages of Triolet or Bel Air on a Saturday where even 50 km/h is too high.

It is unfair and foolish to have a 50 km/h limit on a double carriage highway where no particular hazard exists e.g. on Autoroute du Nord after the Terre-Rouge roundabout. This is an insult to road builders, car manufacturers and drivers alike. It is also a perfect mouse trap at the disposal of the police! In the light of the probable increase of speed limit on highways to 100 km/h, a review should be made of all roads and highways. Where it is safe and feasible, speed limits should be increased as appropriate. For example, after a roundabout the higher speed can come into operation immediately, not 1 km away!

Road signs for drivers

Mauritius has a large number of road signs indicating the start of 50 km/h speed limit but very few indicating where they end. How come? It could be argued that it is left to the driver to resume a higher speed as he thinks fit. Try telling this to a traffic policeman who stops you for speeding! What is obviously required are clearly demarcated zones including the use of such techniques as flashing, electronic signs, speed limits written on the tarmac etc.

What is also unacceptable are limits imposed where they seem unnecessary e.g. the sugar trail from Floréal to Phoenix, the main road from Réduit to St Pierre and the main artery from Tamarin to Rivière Noire. Someone should run a survey about the degree of frustration of drivers from Floréal by the time they have reached Phoenix. Handling out a huge number of contraventions is repressive: A result is that people would ?obey? the limits out of ?fear of police? and not as a collaborative effort to reduce accidents.

A flexible approach

Speedometers vary quite a bit specially as a vehicle ages. Servicing does NOT include recalibration of speedometers. In an experiment where I drove a Peugeot 406 at a fixed speed with colleagues following at the same speed in, respectively a Nissan, a Toyota and old Hyundai the speedometers indicated respectively 80, 82, 82, 78 km/h (+ 4 km). (No hint here as to which was ?right?.) In real situations driving speed vary constantly to fit road conditions whereas radars only measure a given instant.

The speed measuring equipment at the disposal of police is similarly accurate only to a given degree. The pronouncement of a policeman to the effect that ?Vous conduisiez à 84.3 km/h? is like stating that when you buy potatoes in the Bazar ?énà 4.533 kg pomme de terre dans sa sac la?.

To be serious, what I am suggesting is that the combined accuracy of speedometers and speed measuring equipment should, to be fair to all, make allowance for 8 to 10 km/h i.e. in a 50 km/h limit in a village only speed above 60 km/h (as measured by police radar) should be sanctioned. After all what we are after is the chauffards crossing a village at110 km/h in a 4x4 or private bus endangering the lives of people, not someone who drives between 40 and 60 km/h!

Music, news, conversation (not arguments!) make journeys by car easier and prevent drivers from falling asleep at the wheel. Is the conversation between driver and fellow passenger different from that between driver and caller, when a handsfree cellular phone is used? Switching such a phone is as equally distracting as switching a car radio! Once again, in the spirit of collaboration, the status of handsfree mobiles as used in vehicles should be settled.

In conclusion

?I?ve got to go to drive 40 km to work in the morning. Facilitate my journey and ask me to drive carefully, respecting all speed limits in the interest of safety and I WILL DO SO.?

Complicate my journey with unnecessary, often unclear restrictions, what RESULTS DO YOU EXPECT?

(Dr) Michaël ATCHIA

Le kiwi, excellente métaphore

Parmi les articles les plus lus sur les écoles confessionnelles, celui intitulé ?Le vrai problème des écoles catholiques?, signé Kailash Mani Nunkoo, me paraît le meilleur.

L?idée de la parabole est excellente parce qu?elle est parlante ; elle évoque intelligemment la situation. Et l?analyse qui suit fait un bon diagnostic : le problème de ces établissements engendre la convoitise.

Et quelle est la cause première ? Quelle est cette spécificité qu?on a tellement mise en avant sans jamais l?expliquer ? Je cautionne tout à fait l?opinion de M. Nunkoo : ?Cette spécificité n?est pas de nature purement religieuse. Elle englobe une certaine façon de faire, un système de gestion. Cette spécificité découle d?une vision, d?une mission.?

C?est là je pense que réside le succès de ces écoles : la conviction que l?enfant n?est pas seulement une tête à remplir, mais un être humain à faire grandir selon toutes les dimensions ; la conviction qu?être enseignant ce n?est pas seulement un métier, mais une vocation, un service à rendre à l?enfant ; la volonté de bien faire : tout ce qui mérite d?être fait, mérite d?être bien fait ; la conscience du devoir, la conscience professionnelle, qui relèvent de l?honnêteté.

Ces valeurs ne sont pas proprement évangéliques, elles sont communes à tous les humains, elles font partie du patrimoine commun de l?humanité. L?évangile ne parle que d?honnêteté, de justice, de vérité, de fraternité.

La ?spécificité?, des écoles catholiques tiendrait alors bien plus dans le fait que l?autorité, l?encadrement scolaire, les enseignants essaient de vivre ces valeurs, de les incarner dans l?existence concrète et d?inviter enfants et jeunes à les admirer à les aimer, à les faire leurs. Il est vrai que cela seul peut faire une grande différence.

Pour terminer, merci à vous M. Nunkoo pour cette parabole et l?analyse claire qui suit.

Solange Jauffret