Driving skills and road safety expert Rob Handfield-Jones argues that the current licence regime does not make roads safer or combat fraud and corruption.
South Africa should scrap the driving licence card and replace it with a digital-only permit that never expires.
“Rather, the problem is the Road Traffic Management Centre’s refusal to give up the revenue streams that go with analogue document production.” “It’s nonsense, but the government has somehow been permitted to advance a narrative that a driving licence is different to almost every other official document,” said Handfield-Jones.Handfield-Jones said no government official has ever supplied a satisfactory reason for separating the driving licence from the ID document, nor for the five-year renewal period.
“Today, a typical smartphone could achieve these functions at low cost, enabling simple roadside verification of both driving licences and vehicle licences too, which should also be digital,” said Handfield-Jones. “Also, eye tests don’t have to be done at the DLTC. A certificate issued by any registered optometrist is acceptable in lieu of a DLTC eye test.”“Before 1998, South African driving licences had no renewal process, and 1998 was the safest year in our history on our roads,” he said.
“No other factors can explain the abrupt doubling of fatality rates from 1998 to 2006 after they had declined in a straight line from 1985 onwards.”
Driving.Co.Za Headline Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) Rob Handfield-Jones Motoring
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