Motor vehicles are deadly weapons Despite the fact that we are now known worldwide for some of the most dangerous and deadly roads on the planet, our traffic authorities are mostly no-where to be found – they are perpetually “missing in action”. They are absolutely no-where to be seen at roadblocks, despite the fact that there are numerous roadblocks put up all over Namibia – to what end – we do not know, because they are mostly just “wave and go” roadblocks. We have observed cars without any tread on their tyres, broken lights; some with no number plates whatsoever (Alien cars from another planet?), overloaded cars and many other obvious problems that put the roadworthiness of vehicles in serious doubt. We do not even want to begin to speculate the issue of lack of valid driver’s licences, expired driver’s licences or false driver’s licences – The truth of this may very well cause us night terrors for our entire lives. The fact of the matter is that everyone knows that the traffic police take bribes, but rather than report them, the powers that be have set the fines so ridiculously high, that Tom, Dick and Harry would rather pay a bribe than risk paying the fine! Which brings us to the next point – please equip every single traffic officer/policeman with a body-cam. Yup – we mean a camera worn on the body of every policeman/traffic officer so that whatever that officer does in the course of his/her line of duty is duly recorded. This could serve a dual purpose of course, by also recording the actions of the perpetrator (smile). All we know is that something needs to be done. We also need working cameras at all road blocks and we need traffic officers stationed at each and every roadblock to check roadworthiness of vehicles, driver’s licences, etc. Alternatively, Police officers need to receive training and the authority to remove cars from the road that are not roadworthy, check every single driver’s licence and confiscate where necessary, etc. The carnage needs to end now, and we need some political will to hasten it along.Motor vehicles are deadly weapons Despite the fact that we are now known worldwide for some of the most dangerous and deadly roads on the planet, our traffic authorities are mostly no-where to be found – they are perpetually “missing in action”. They are absolutely no-where to be seen at roadblocks, despite the fact that there are numerous roadblocks put up all over Namibia – to what end – we do not know, because they are mostly just “wave and go” roadblocks. We have observed cars without any tread on their tyres, broken lights; some with no number plates whatsoever (Alien cars from another planet?), overloaded cars and many other obvious problems that put the roadworthiness of vehicles in serious doubt. We do not even want to begin to speculate the issue of lack of valid driver’s licences, expired driver’s licences or false driver’s licences – The truth of this may very well cause us night terrors for our entire lives. The fact of the matter is that everyone knows that the traffic police take bribes, but rather than report them, the powers that be have set the fines so ridiculously high, that Tom, Dick and Harry would rather pay a bribe than risk paying the fine! Which brings us to the next point – please equip every single traffic officer/policeman with a body-cam. Yup – we mean a camera worn on the body of every policeman/traffic officer so that whatever that officer does in the course of his/her line of duty is duly recorded. This could serve a dual purpose of course, by also recording the actions of the perpetrator (smile). All we know is that something needs to be done. We also need working cameras at all road blocks and we need traffic officers stationed at each and every roadblock to check roadworthiness of vehicles, driver’s licences, etc. Alternatively, Police officers need to receive training and the authority to remove cars from the road that are not roadworthy, check every single driver’s licence and confiscate where necessary, etc. The carnage needs to end now, and we need some political will to hasten it along.