Harsh lessons from MEC’s fatal crash

Kolisile, his driver and bodyguard were killed in a head-on collision with a truck in the early hours of Saturday morning on his way to a funeral in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape.

The MEC’s vehicle was allegedly making way for an ambulance when it was hit by another car and went into on-coming traffic and collided with a truck,killing the three men instantly. The ambulance did not stop. Kolisile’s driver did well by giving way to an ambulance, which presumably had its lights and sirens on.

The accident provided a stark reminder of the risk people place themselves in the moment they sit behind a steering wheel and hit the road. This will continue for as long as transport authorities enforce the law only when they want to. Motorists should also be vigilant and cautious at all times.

In essence, cars have become the most lethal man-made machines in modern day history. And while accidents do happen, the responsibility lies with the person behind the wheel.

Rudolph William Louis ‘Rudy’ Giuliani, the one-time mayor of New York City is credited with having adopted an aggressive law enforcement strategy based on James Q Wilson’s ‘Broken Windows’ policy.

This involved crackdowns on relatively minor offences such as graffiti, turnstile jumping and cannabis possession, with the theory that this would send a message that order would be maintained.

Motorists are like children, and people who generally behave well adopt a macho image and character once they acquire drivers’ licences.

But things could be different if they knew that offences often seen as minor, such as changing lanes or turning without signalling, ignoring a stop-sign and red traffic light, drunken driving, over-speeding and not giving way to emergency vehicles, carried heavy penalties.

Rest in peace comrade MEC.