During the just-ended semester of school (I say 'just ended' because I'm currently on holiday, yay!), I would drive on two days of the week and use public transport/ walk for the remaining days.
I'm sure everyone who's ever driven in Nairobi knows how stressful it can get. Now picture a young lady (who looks like a teenager) driving a small, old Toyota Corolla. It's like driving around with a big sign saying, "Here, bully me! I'm a pushover."
As a pedestrian, I used to wonder why many drivers would not stop at a pedestrian's crossing, let alone think about it. Now, I'm not talking about when traffic has just been released by the policeman and all drivers are making a mad dash for it before the fateful raised hand traps them for another half hour.
No, I'm talking about normal traffic on a normal road, that has a clearly marked pedestrian's crossing. Whether the people who operate automobiles on our roads went to driving school or not, is a matter that is constantly under debate, at least in this city.
Even then, surely, doesn't common sense tell you that those white lines on the road mean something? Isn't there a voice in your head that says, "Hey, look, someone's crossing, maybe we should slow down and try not to kill them."
Then I started driving and I realised why drivers in Nairobi are always inching closer and closer to you as you try to cross the road. After sitting in snail-paced traffic for a while, free moving traffic is like a drug. It exhilarates you, makes you happy and you don't want it to stop. That literally means that you do not want to stop.
Then you come across some person walking across the road like its the widest thing they've ever crossed. And these are able-bodied, healthy-looking people who have no excuse to be crossing at the pace of a chameleon. On that note, have you ever seen a chameleon walking? It slowly raises its leg, then pauses with that leg still in the air, does some shaky-leg kind of dance before it eventually puts its leg down. You could pull out your hair if you are forced to watch a chameleon move from one spot to another.
So picture that frustration as a driver. This pedestrian forces you to slow down; takes away the high of the free-movement you had been enjoying. Then most likely, you find yourself crawling along again.
So what does the driver end up doing? Everytime they come across a pedestrian crossing, they zoom past, even when they can see that poor pedestrian stranded in the middle of a double lane.
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| Mentality in Kenya too |
And what does the pedestrian end up doing? They time a car that looks like it may stop and they dangerously step onto the road, challenging the driver to run them over by looking them straight in the eye.
It doesn't always work. That's when we hear of the infamous hit-and-run accidents.
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| Ah, he sees me... I dare you to hit me! I dare you! |
So I thought about it and I believe there's a way we can all make life easier for each other. These steps are not foolproof, neither will they bring world peace or anything like that, but they are helpful.
1) Follow the rules. And I mean ALL the rules
It's that simple, yet not so simple at the same time. Yes, I know, contradictory. But if both pedestrians and drivers followed the rules, the roads would be a much kinder place. This includes keeping your eyes on the road, Drivers.
2) Pedestrians, cross the road quickly and with keen attention.
This will preserve your life, literally.
3) Drivers, stopping for a few seconds to let someone pass won't kill you.
If you're late, that's not anyone else's fault, so why make them pay for it?
Life goes on, regardless of how bad a day you're having. You create the kind of day you have. So don't let all the road rage get to you.
I know this isn't easy. I'm still trying to apply my own steps in my own pedestrian-driver dilemma. But that's what life is about; creating and re-creating.
Have a safe time on the road :)
