We live in a country with so much promise, many opportunities and way to much freedom. We are actually living in the land of milk and honey, the one that gives all to everyone, the one that embraces everything for everyone and apparently the one that allows whatever keeps it’s citizens happy – whether it be legal or not.
Have you noticed that every yellow line that could possibly form something like a lane is now officially the taxi lane. Yellow islands, painted for whatever legal purpose for other road users no longer apply to the rule book, but they have now become designated taxi ranks!
Those white arrows, which normal drivers would think to be indicating whether a lane is either just for turning left or right or going straight (which ever is indicated by the arrow), are no longer deemed to be a legal road sign. It must have been a case of too much white paint in the storeroom so they had to use it for something. Because if you are using the roads today it is completely all right to turn which ever way you feel like, no matter what is indicated by the road markings.
Indicators are no longer used as a warning that your are planning to turn so please allow me to go before you… Oh no, with the very rare incident of indicators actually being used, it simply means I am going left or right and get out of my way. And if you don’t slam on brakes or move over in front of oncoming traffic, you will be the victim of an accident because they will simply push you off the road … and this was experienced first hand.
And word has it, that soon, very soon, the K53 road test you have to pass before your legal drivers licence is issued, will also fall away because you can just buy a licence anyway, from anyone making an extra couple of rand. And who needs to pass a test if nobody applies the rules and if you are never fined for being in the wrong? Authorities simply don’t see why they should keep this system at hand and pay testing officials a salary since nobody follows the rules of the road anyway.
And it all started with taxis taking control of the traffic authorities by making their own rules. Then their bad habits rubbed off on our youngsters first – very quick to learn a new trick or two… and today, most drivers on South African roads just do as they please. There is no regard for law and order – not in general and definitely not on our roads.
I wonder if authorities are ever going to catch up on this, whether they have it in them to claim our laws and order on our roads back. It is indeed a very sad day when the majority of road users do as they please and the minority that are still trying to uphold the basic rules of the road have to bear the brunt of it.
I for one have had it, so sir, next time you sit behind me in an intersection waiting for me to turn right, please don’t hoot. There is just no way that I am putting my life in danger for the idiot who is going to skip the red traffic light anyway! If you wait for me to go when the light turns green, the same rules apply – I will wait until it is safe for me to pass through the intersection. So hoot all you like! I don’t understand sign language anyway!
And in the meantime, let’s all hope, that by some miracle, our authorities realise that by losing grip of the so called ‘lesser’ laws, they have long lost the grip on law and order in our beautiful country. Let’s hope that by some miracle, they make a decision to claim our country and our roads back from those with no regard for law and order, not even to mention any regard for the lives of others.
