Letter to the Editor – Law is an Ass
Posted on April 17th, 2012
By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai Dehiwela.
Srilankan government comes out with laws which certainly turn out to be asses when they are ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-implementedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ that too ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ half heartedly. No wonder since these laws are made by half nitwits without thinking of real practical implementation.
The carƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ seat belt law is such a one. Only those who have vehicles with English numbers must buckleƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the belts. Now what about those who have other numbers but do have set belts in their vehicles? What sin have the ones with English numbered cars done? What about those who have tinted glasses? Oh, yeah , there is a law against that too, but who cares? Many a vehicle cruise quite blatantly with tinted windows. Now thatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s a ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ forgotten law.
And they announced in all sincerity that the first time one is caught without the set belt ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ it will be Rs.1000 fine and the second time , 2000 and third time 3500 or cancellation of driving license. Now our driving licenses have noƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ place to indicate the traffic violations so how is the cop to know how much to charge? Are they expecting our citizens to so law abiding they will sincerely divulge the fact that this is their 4th time and risk losing their license? Not to mention the times oneƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ pays the bribe to the cop to escape the fine ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”rather the hassle of paying the fine.
It is absurd to have this law in ColomboƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ during heavy traffic time sinceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the vehicles move at snail space anyway and the traffic cop dare not stop anyone for this offence for fear of the traffic jam he will create.
Similarly the law when one is caught for a traffic offense that one must pay the fine atƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the post office and bring the receipt back to the police station of the place where the offence was committedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ just breeds bribery. Many a driver I have seen has opted to pay a bribe to the cop and get out of the problem rather than the hassle of coming back to that police stationƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as it can be very far. The intension of making this law may have been to make it so difficult for the driver so that he will not commit the offence. But then, that calls for 100% law abiding traffic cops- which is, as all of us know, is a far cry from the truth.
Does anyone look into theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ practicality or the effectiveness of the traffic laws? Such as the one way trafficƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ implemented in Colombo today? Probably not.
By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai
Dehiwela.
April 17th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
What ever the law it is, Seat belts are very important.
In an accident, my new car was totalled. It became simply scrap metal after the accident. But, I was saved with a severe head ache for a few weeks because, I was wearing the seat belt. People should understand.
April 18th, 2012 at 4:16 am
“Similarly the law when one is caught for a traffic offense that one must pay the fine at the post office and bring the receipt back to the police station of the place where the offence was committed just breeds bribery. Many a driver I have seen has opted to pay a bribe to the cop and get out of the problem rather than the hassle of coming back to that police station as it can be very far.”
I fully agree with this woman for the first time. Thank you Mareena. This law is as stupid as killing animals while saying Saadu Saadu Saadu and the giving away 1/3 of meat as dana.