Editor, RE: “Enforce traffic rules to rein in errant motorists” (The New Times, June 16). I agree with the reasons advanced in the article, especially where it touches on the failure of motorists on our roads to respect the priority right of pedestrians at zebra (pedestrian) crossings. In my view the writer forgot one that is probably also the most probable: sheer ignorance of the traffic code by an overwhelming majority of the drivers on our roads. This clearly indicates that there is something wrong in the way drivers’ permits are issued, right from the training provided in driving schools (if many licenced drivers pass there at all) on to the driving tests administered by the police. There is otherwise no other way to understand the utter contempt in which many drivers treat pedestrian crossings - and all other road signs, for that matter; it is almost as if they either believe these are just road decorations or mere suggestions rather than, in some cases, strict instructions on driver behaviour. Mwene Kalinda
