The campaign to promote safety on our roads is a noble one. It is also necessary because there are too many lives being lost on our roads.

The campaign to promote safety on our roads is a noble one. It is also necessary because there are too many lives being lost on our roads.

Road fatalities and casualties cause devastation to kith and kin, and the economy. Drunken driving is blamed for at least three quarters of these accidents. Other factors are reckless driving, inconsiderate motorists and faulty vehicles.

The crashes also cost a lot of money to clear and to investigate.

The Department of Transport has launched several safety campaigns, especially at Easter and the Christmas festive season. Though the numbers are dropping, fatalities still remain high.

But the department's plan to stop a million vehicles is a bit harebrained. It cannot work and will probably lead to irate drivers taking it out on their fellow men.

The congestion chaos that the campaign will cause, together with Eskom's load shedding and nonfunctional robots, is unimaginable.

The department, on its own admission, does not have enough traffic officers to police the roads. This means that most of them will man roadblocks while the rest of the roads will be traversed by angry motorists who have been delayed in reaching their destinations.

The department's plan sounds like the workings of a desperate man who has run out of ideas. They should dump it forthwith.