How many school kids can fit in a taxi?
Believe it or not the answer most recently discovered by traffic cops is 49! This number does not include the conductor or the driver. What makes this even worse, is that when the driver was tested for alcohol, he was FIVE times over the legal limit. (IOL)
This situation is unfortunately not unique in South Africa. Daily I see these taxi’s driving along overloaded - and usually in a bad state of disrepair. What happens when one of them crashes? We end up with 49 dead children who only ever wanted to get a good education and improve their life.
It is unfortunate that so long ago, the government had allowed this industry to flourish totally unchecked. The problem is that these days there are so many of them that it has almost got to the point where it can’t be controlled.
According to a reader on the IOL website, the situation has its own unique issues for all those involved:
Children: This is the coolest driver/taxi with the sound system, I want to drive with this one
Driver: I can drive 2 trips less, because Im making the money with all these kids crammed in
Taxi Owner: I dont care what the driver does, as long as I get my money (daily target)
Parents: Its so expensive by bus, how else are my kids getting to school?
Police: We do not have the resources to police these problem taxi’s
So what is the solution to this problem? We can’t just ban them as this would have economic consequences for the millions of people that rely on them, so what can we do? I have no idea!
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