Take a leisurely drive down one of South Africa's major highways today and you may soon find yourself slap-bang in the middle of a Hollywood-style car chase, as a gang of unmarked SUVs with tinted windows comes hurtling past you in a blur of blue lights.

No, you've not stumbled into the latest high-octane Vin Diesel flick. Instead, some small-time MEC has overslept and you are forced to put your emergency braking skills or your 1987 VW Chico's off-road abilities to the test.

The police's elite VIP Protection Unit has become notorious on South Africa's roads over the past few months. Collectively, these 'blue light bullies' have caused a number of (sometimes fatal) accidents by means of negligent driving. They've also pointed firearms and even shot at drivers who have refused to get out of their way.

Assault, armed robbery and even rape charges have since been laid.

The first question to ask, without even examining the conduct of the officers involved, is this: what do these so-called VIPs need protection from?

Also, how many officials should even have the right to preferential treatment on the roads? Surely only the president deserves this privilege?

Interestingly, former president Nelson Mandela, one of the few people the majority of the public wouldn't begrudge the 'big cheese' treatment, absolutely abhors the idea. Even Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, who himself has an entourage of note, doesn't trust South Africa's blue-light brigade and brings his own motorcade on visits to the country. Now that's saying something.

Nowadays, when a motorist spots flashing blue lights in the rear-view mirror, there appear to be two possible schools of thought. The first is to manoeuvre one's vehicle out of the way (if traffic permits) and allow the convoy though. The second, which is increasingly popular among fed-up motorists, is to refuse to budge at all.

And as more and more people take the latter approach, these 'police officers' simply increase their use of force in an attempt to prove their power. Indeed, as Commander Mzondeki "Sean" Tshabalala points out: "The South African public do not respect the vehicles of the VIP Protection Unit or those of the police. They simply refuse to move out of the way."

Now, there must be some reason why the overwhelming majority of motorists on our roads purposefully obstruct the blue-light brigade but obediently give way to, say, an ambulance or a fire truck?

The rationale is simple: these types of vehicles are far more likely to be responding to an actual emergency (and I don't mean some or other MP's urgent craving for a supersized Big Mac meal). It may sound clichéd, but when lives are truly at stake everyone in the path acknowledges it.

Look, there has surely been the odd case of a VIP unit dealing with a genuine emergency. But if such incidents were few and far between, it would be much easier for the general public to believe and even co-operate with the units.

What it all comes down to is that the officers who blatantly disobey the law and abuse their power must be dealt with. The power-hungry individuals must be rooted out and there must be appropriate consequences for unlawful actions. Furthermore, the apparent 'heavyweights' being carted around (although a number of the incidents have occurred with the supposed VIP not even present) have to come to terms with the fact that their appointments are often not actually more important than anyone else's.

Only then can these convoys begin to earn the 'respect' of the South African public.

And as a result, we would have far fewer unsavoury VIP incidents on our roads.

So, what can you do without actually putting your life on the line? You could join the Blue Light Brigade Watch group on Facebook or even just post a comment below!