Educate, enforce and educate some more

We have apparently earned the distinction of being the worst place on earth to drive, judging by the sheer volume of traffic fatality. There are more car accidents here than anywhere else on the planet; a rather frightening prospect, which has concerned citizens speculating on the reasons for this dubious distinction.
It is obvious that there are many factors that contribute to the dangers on the streets of Addis Ababa. The reckless disregard of traffic regulation by very many drivers must take the lead, closely followed by the dangers posed by those whose driving skills are non-existent or who have no clue as to what the traffic regulation is. How many drivers know when to yield, for example?
Enforcement of traffic rules should not be limited to the taxi driver who often possesses superior driving skills to your average Addis driver, however unruly on the road.
Maybe it is time that some drivers are forced to attend ten hours or so of traffic school at their own expense after repeated traffic infractions, in addition to paying a fine. If traffic tickets were issued as often as they should be and if there is a central reporting system the reeducation of the driver could be accomplished. Of course this is more easily said than done.
But how do we deal with drunk drivers that destroy public property every night of the week, or for that matter with those drivers who lack driving skills enough to stay off the fenced center divider on Africa Ave.?
We have to educate the many drivers on the road today who should not be behind the wheel of a car at all. For these drivers, it may be time to go to the basics…Traffic Law 101 and re-licensing.
Driving under the influence of alcohol or Chat is largely responsible for many deaths on the Addis Djibouti corridor. It is rare not to see several overturned vehicles by the Addis Ababa/Mojo highway, any day of the week. If Ethiopia holds the record for the number of accidents in the world, the Addis Mojo highway probably qualifies as the traffic-death corridor of the planet, where incredibly reckless driving takes place with alarming disregard for the safety of others. Only enforcement could cure this.
We have to educate, enforce and educate some more to improve driver behavior and accidents on the road. What choice do we have?
To start with, the Addis Ababa Transport Authority has to make sure that only those who fulfill the minimum required driving skills are licensed to operate vehicles. It is obvious that there are simply too many that should not have been licensed.
Traffic offences are already made part of the motor vehicle files that have to be searched manually. Better enforcement and computerization of vehicle records could better target repeat traffic offenders for revocation of driver’s licenses and further action like requirement of training before license renewal.
And that would only be the beginning of the road towards safer driving.
The annual registration renewal itself could loosen up a little bit more, now that the annual car inspection has been farmed out to the private sector. A vehicle that is purchased and registered in December should not be required to renew registration in January of the next year, a month later.
In addition the annual car inspection routine should include a smog inspection. It is time to put an end to unrestricted pollution of the air. It undermines our poverty reduction strategy by adding the problems associated with toxic fuel emissions, that of poor health in the urban centers, to the equation.