By KATH GANNAWAY
PROFESSIONAL driver, James Laird, has a no-holds-barred view of what needs to be done to stop people killing themselves and others in cars.
It’s ‘one strike and you’re out’ – or off the road, at least!
The Mail’s Talk The Toll article on 28 April, really got up his nose.
It looked at ways of addressing the tragedy of young people dying on Yarra Valley roads, but, Mr Laird said, it reiterated a flawed ‘softly, softly’ approach.
He maintains that the current response to drivers who break the law isn’t working.
And the reason, he says, is because it keeps bad drivers on the road.
All up he has been in the transport industry for about 25 years, including as a taxi driver and, currently, a bus driver.
The sheer number of hours on the road, and his elevated view from behind the wheel of a bus, exposes him to the full gamut of bad drivers.
His opinion of other drivers isn’t good.
You would think there wasn’t a good driver on the road – and he doesn’t give much ground when that’s pointed out.
So, what’s wrong?
“Poor driver training for starters,” he said.
“It’s too easy to get a driver’s licence.
“On my bus I listen to teenage kids talking about how they’ve forged and manipulated their 120 hours of driving; some even brag ‘mum took me out for 50 minutes and put it down as an hour’.
“Everyone is moaning about road conditions, but you have it right there – we’re hell-bent on making it easy for people to get themselves killed by simply putting in place mechanisms that can be easily got around.
His view of mobile phones as a tool of destruction is clear.
“When I learnt to drive my instructor said hands on the wheel, eyes on the road and you will never get into trouble,” he said.
“We’re told you’re not supposed to talk on a mobile phone, you’re not supposed to drink and drive, yet the number of P-platers I see on the road talking on mobiles is just ridiculous.”
Anecdotally, he says boys are guilty more of talking on the phone, while girls are more likely to be texting.
The solution, he said, is zero-tolerance by police and the judiciary.
“They should go all the way back to square one; back to the 120 hours, and go for their licence again.
“If it winds up that we have 60 or 70-year-olds on their P-plates, that’s just too bad.”
So, why does he think the law-makers, law-enforcers and the judiciary, baulk at such a hard line?
He believes it’s about revenue and votes, and he points the finger at the lawmakers.
“We don’t send them back because everyone wants their licence and there would be a (political) backlash,” he says.
“And, so long as the government keeps you on the road, they can milk you.
“Take the licences away for six months or a year and you’re denying the government revenue.
Then there’s the backlash.
“Imagine taking all the P-platers off the road who break the law,” he said.
“There’s massive power from them, and from their parents who now have to drive them around again.
So what do Mail readers think?
Do you share his frustration with driver behaviour and ‘soft’ penalties?
Can politicians afford to get motorists off-side?
Should there be not just tougher penalties, but no excuses?
Add to the debate on the Mail facebook page, email to editor@mailnewsgroup.com.au, or write to Mail News Group, 244 Maroondah Highway, Healesville, 3777.
