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Beatrice Tonhodzai-Ngondo Make A Difference
I was driving home the other day and just as I was about to approach the railway line I heard a train honk. Those of you who have heard the train honking or hooting will know that the sound is so loud that you can actually jump up in shock. It is such a screamer that even if your hearing is not that good, you will definitely hear it.
I obviously put my foot on my brake pedal, bringing my car to a gradual halt, a safe distance from the railway line. Other vehicles which were coming from the opposite direction did the same.
Imagine my shock when I saw other drivers who sped past me trying to beat the train to the line.
At least five cars did that, much to my surprise. Yes, I know all about how certain motorists have so much faith in their powerful machines or monsters but seriously?
We have all heard of those who pride their monsters for being ground aeroplanes.
It was thus to my utter disgust that I saw them beat the train and sped off.
As I drove on after the train had passed, I could not help but think back to a time I used to ask a lot of people why there were so many advertisements on South African television warning motorists against trying to beat trains at railroad crossings? I felt it was a waste of money and time. My argument was always that there is no way someone would miss a train on the railway crossing because of its noisy honking.
Plus I would argue that anyone with a bit of sense must slow down if not stop; upon approaching a railway crossing.
I just could not fathom that someone could actually take risks; stupid risks at a rail crossing.
But that day, I saw it with my own eyes. I saw grown- ups try to beat a train.
They managed to get away with it but what that incident did was to show me that we have some very dangerous drivers driving in this country.
At a time when road traffic accidents are holding their own at the top of the log alongside cancers and diarrhoea as top killers in the country, you would think everyone who is behind the wheel would have some sense and common decency.
As I drive, one thing I have learnt is that driving is about shared responsibility.
Each driver has to be responsible so that other drivers and pedestrians around can be safe.
You literally have to drive for yourself and for everyone else around you.
It is therefore alarming when you see how easily some drivers flout road rules and regulations.
While I am alive to talk about the misguided motorists I came across at the railway crossing that day, there are many people who are not alive today because of some misguided drivers.
Yes, accidents happen and they are a beast confronting us everyday.
What is the point of speeding across railway crossings? What is the point behind beating red robots? What is the point behind driving without a driver’s licence?
I saw some colleagues of mine get seriously defensive when we started talking about how so many people are driving without licences.
Two of my colleagues said there is no big deal about having a licence, as long as one can afford to buy a car. To them what is important is the ability to buy a car, not the ability to drive it.
Now you see why we have so many unlicensed drivers on our roads.
It is because we have more people who are able to buy cars than those who are able to drive.
While I am not against someone buying a car, parking it at their house and admiring it as it is parked, I have problems with them taking that car for a drive when they are not able to drive.
If one is unlicensed for me, they are not able to drive and should not be driving at all unless they are with a driving instructor or are being supervised with L plates on the car.
Yes, we have bad roads and they are also responsible for many deaths but there are also too many bad drivers running loose.
It does not help that we now have so many automatic vehicles coming in because I know so many people who have driven for more than five years now without licences because they say “with an auto, all I need to do is to put in drive.”
They do not know the rules of the road such as who gives way to whom, when to overtake and when to stop.
The result is atrocious driving, flagrant violation of road rules and regulations, crashes and smashes and deaths. Police take note please!
I was looking at the picture of an accident published by the Herald earlier this week where dead bodies could be clearly discerned in the wreckage of a car that was involved an accident in Gweru.
God bless those souls and my sympathies to their families.
As I looked at that picture, I knew it would not be the last before this year is out.
As Christmas approaches, we will have many more such mishaps and loss of life, as some drivers take to drinking and driving.
While accidents happen, my call is for every driver to ensure that they have the legal right to be on the road. Be able to drive. Have a licence.
After that, ensure your car is safe to be on the road. Insure it.
Be alert and drive for everyone else around you. We call upon the relevant authorities to ensure they do their part by fixing the country’s roads so that they do not become death traps.
If you want to drive but do not have a licence, please go out there and get one, properly; before you kill someone.
Let us not play with life.
Online Reporter