HOW TO BE A BAD DRIVER

SOUTH Africans are notoriously bad drivers; poor, even shocking if you take our road toll into account. At last count it was about 35 deaths every day.
It’s a serious matter that the authorities have found difficult to address. Many factors need to be attended to including driver training, condition of roads, condition of vehicles, law enforcement and others that revolve around these four.
The burgeoning economy is another factor, with more vehicles on roads and inexperienced drivers who can now afford to own a car.

Road safety is a serious matter and every death or injury costs the country dearly. We can prattle on about rules of the road, poor driver and pedestrian behaviour and so on until we’re blue in the face, without anyone taking notice.
So here’s another angle which might strike home to a few ... a tongue-in-cheek look at a very serious subject – some of the bad habits that we and other road users may have:

Turn signals will give away your next move. A real driver never uses them.

Under no circumstances should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, or the space will be filled by somebody else putting you in an even more dangerous situation.

Crossing two or more lanes in a single lane-change is considered going with the flow.

The faster you drive through a red light, the less chance you have of getting hit.

Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will inevitably result in you being rear-ended. If you want your insurance company to pay for a new rear bumper, come to a complete stop at all stop signs.

Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. For those without ABS, it’s a chance to stretch your legs.

Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as suggestions and are apparently not enforceable during rush hour.

Just because you’re in the correct lane and have no room to speed up or move over, doesn’t mean that a driver flashing his lights behind you doesn’t think he can go faster in your spot.

The aim of every driver is to get there first, by whatever means necessary.

Doesn’t that sound familiar. Chuckle at it, but also reflect. Many of us do many of these stupid things.