Law should not be compromised

Public transport drivers went on strike late last week in one of the busy suburbs of Amman.

The strike was reported to have created a lot of disruption and traffic congestion.

Students, workers and many other commuters who rely on public transport to reach their destinations found themselves suddenly stranded and obviously inconvenienced, to put it very mildly. 

Well, strikes are not unusual in most parts of the world. They normally happen to put pressure on the concerned parties to address a legitimate grievance.

Disruption of regular services is one way of pressure. 

The viability of such tactics depends in large part on how legitimate the reason for stopping regular work is.

As reported, the case of the public transport drivers in question against the police does not seem to have any legitimacy whatsoever. They went on strike protesting traffic police action against their repeated violations of traffic rules.

One example cited alleged police “excesses”; the complaint was that some bus drivers received three violations in one day.

What is wrong with three violation tickets if there were three traffic violations of the law? 

Is it not the duty of the police to issue as many fines as required in response to one’s behaviour?

As a matter of fact, the police should be commended, rather than blamed, for their strict application of the law.

Police officers should only be blamed if they fail to enforce the law and if they refrained from checking every violation.

The law, the traffic law in particular, is not meant to be  a punishment for the people. It is meant to organise their life and guarantee their safety.

Unlawful speeding, bus overloading, driving on the wrong side of the road, driving a vehicle with an expired permit, crossing a red light, driving without a valid licence, unsafe overtaking and sudden stopping on a busy road are all hazardous practices that have for years been causing accidents with serious casualties and loss of life.

It is time to strictly prohibit such reckless practices, and the only way to do that is by imposing higher fines on violators, much higher than those applied now.

Apparently the traffic law is currently under review and there was news of higher traffic fines for drivers who use cellular phones while driving.

That was quickly denied by the traffic department as if it were wrong. But it is not wrong at all to impose much higher fines on such a very dangerous habit which is very common on our roads simply because the law is mild and the fines for such a life-threatening violation are almost negligible.

I honestly do not understand why any Jordanian should be concerned about harsh traffic fines, even if they include imprisonment, if there is no intention to regularly break such rules.

The law is primarily made for violators and it only targets violators. This category, therefore, has no right to demand laws tailored to its unruly and dangerous behaviour, mainly dangerous to the rest of the people, the large majority of law-abiding citizens.

I can loudly and proudly claim that I belong to the law abiders. I never use the phone while driving and I pull over when and if I need to answer the phone or to make an urgent call.

I never exceed the permitted speed limit or cross an orange, let alone red, light.

I was never stopped or ticketed by the police for a violation or even a remark.

I make sure that all  my papers are valid and in proper order. But even by doing all that, I do not feel safe on our roads if the violators are not checked.

It is my right, therefore, that is often put at great risk if the law is compromised.

Last Thursday, I was driving home at around 6pm. Just before reaching the King Hussein Sport City, traffic stopped suddenly. A small group of people moved into the middle of the road and blocked traffic completely. They were carrying some banners, but there was no demonstration.

It took over 15 minutes for the police to arrive and for the road blockers to move aside.

I learned from one of the drivers who briefly left his vehicle to find out what was going on that the young people demonstrating were engaged in an activity and the busses meant to transport them were late, so they protested by blocking the way of motorists who had no fault in the whole affair.

I am not sure what action the police decided to take, but this kind of behaviour is worrying. Not holding accountable perpetrators of illegal disruption of traffic on a major road at a very busy hour, sets dangerous precedents.

Under no circumstances should the law be compromised.

Most unfortunately, some among us are becoming spoiled. These people were gradually and steadily encouraged by the failure of the authorities to deal with every violation as it happened.

The Greater Amman Municipality is still struggling with street vendors who occupy pavements and sidewalks in many parts of the capital.

The phenomenon has spread all over the country, creating terrible environmental and  other serious hazards, besides the fact that it encouraged other violations of the law.

That has to be stopped. It will take time, but the effort to restore full respect for and complete abidance by the law should be sustained till the end.