If you’re a licenced driver out on the roads every day, you’ve without-a-doubt had your fair share of road rage towards inconsiderate drivers. You know, the ones that make you wonder how they ever passed their driver’s test and why it was so difficult for you to pass yours? Fact of the matter is, they’re legally out on the road with illegal and just plain irritating driving habits.
So, for your sake and the safety of everyone on the road, pay attention.
If only there was some kind of technology on our phones that could let us use it without needing to pick up, look at it or touch it… oh, wait there is Siri, Cortana, Alexa and Bixby. Or what about something to slow the car down and a place to momentarily park off for a while… no, there’s that too. It’s called brakes and the side of the road, yellow line or a nearby parking lot.
It’s not necessary to get into how dangerous it really is to be on your phone while driving but let’s take a quick look at the statistics: 25% of accidents in South Africa (a country with one of the highest car accident rates in the world) are as a result of using a cellphone while driving.
But distracted driving in general needs to stop. Your burger can wait, you should have done your makeup at home, set your GPS before you leave and pull over if you’re searching for something.
Then we have those people that buy cars without indicators and we wonder, “how could a car be designed and declared roadworthy if it doesn’t have indicators?”. Well, the truth is, they do have indicators (new and pre owned cars alike – there’s no excuse), but the drivers just have no idea that they exist. Incredible, don't you think?
There’s nothing more rage-invoking than wanting to enter a circle only to slam on the brakes and be surprised by a driver who refused to signal that they wanted to go all the way around… and then still have the nerve to be upset with you for almost driving into them. Mind blown.
Sitting in traffic, everyone is a little grumpy and trying to get to where they need to be, but you simply cannot do anything about it, other than drive responsibly and respectably. Even so, we have drivers that don’t understand or respect the merging lanes rules. It’s a one-one entry system from the alternating lanes. It’s really not that difficult to understand. And yes, none of us want to end up behind the truck, but, hello, you’re stuck in traffic either way, whether you’re ahead of the truck or not. Don’t mess with the system, it works and it will keep drivers from losing their cool.
Don’t be the driver who can’t decide what speed they want to drive (within the speed limit). If you’re going to drive slowly, don’t then speed up once someone tries to overtake you making it impossible for them to do so. Only to then slow down again once they’re stuck behind you. You don’t know them (most of the time), why are you so determined to hear their hooter and decipher their colourful gestures?
Stick to a speed, and don’t speed over the limit. Especially in residential areas where there are narrow roads and a lot of stop signs. You will end up ramming into another car or cause two other cars to swerve into each other because of your foolishness. And don’t be the driver on the other end that drives too close for comfort just to get the speed fluctuator to move aside – that’s a dangerous game.
Drivers who are too camera shy are quite baffling to the general driver. If you're already driving the speed limit, you have no reason to slow down just because there is a traffic camera. It will only flash if you’re more than 10km/h over the speed limit. So, even if you are driving 70km/h in a 60km/h zone you don’t have to worry about a fine. But to slow down an extra 10km/h does nothing more than torment the cars behind you. Please, let’s be sensible here.
Especially in South Africa and the Western Cape with our current drought and dry-spell, we can’t afford to start fires that spread so easily but are taxing to put out because of drivers that throw their “finished” cigarettes out of the window. Your car comes with an ashtray. It’s only a small-change holder for non-smokers. And if you don’t want to “make your car smell bad” by using it, don’t smoke in your car in general. And if you really need to, put the cigarette out before you just chuck it towards the side of the road.
And, finally, don’t be the driver who purposefully parks pathetically, allowing no space for other cars to park on either side or behind. Take the extra ten seconds to straighten out. Even if you’re only running in for a few moments, it doesn’t matter. There are already enough people walking around with no sense of spatial awareness, but parking lots have literal guiding lines for you to use so that you know you are respecting the free space around you.
Now go out and make the roads a less frustrating and a safer place.
