Traffic rules and regulations are there for one main reason — to make our roads safe. Offenders or those who break these rules and regulations have to be warned and where necessary, punished.

The aim of these warnings and punishments is to educate, allow offenders to realise that what they have done is wrong and encourage them not to repeat the offences. Those who do face heavier fines or maybe even banned from driving.

For the whole thing to work, offenders must be apprehended and appropriately as well as timely notified, warned and counselled. What is happening now with the accumulation of the summonses and the delayed serving of notifications is, the police have not only sent the wrong message but cause much hardship to motorists.

Two things have happened with the police inefficiency. Those who were aware of their offence thought they have gotten away with it while those who were unaware remain blissfully ignorant of their offence. The aim of educating and counselling offenders is lost and offences would continue to be repeated and the roads not any safer.

The problem now is that offenders who suddenly find themselves with a heap of summonses are faced with massive fines, suspension of their driving licences that may even disrupt their livelihood and lead to lowering of the nation's productivity.

The long delay has make the objective of Ops Warta II — to punish traffic offenders — questionable. People cannot be faulted for thinking that the whole exercise is just to collect money and punish the people for the police's inefficiency. After all that is done, road safety is back to square one and then there will be Ops Warta III in the year 2005/6!