The main roads and highways in our country are used by many types of vehicles. Cars, lorries, buses and motorcycles travel along them. The roads in cities and towns are often choked with vehicles until traffic jams are created.
The roads that link big towns are also so full of vehicles that it is almost impossible to go any faster than the slow lorries.
The jams and the craNvviing pace are unavoidable and tolerated as much as possible. The danger posed by this overcrowding is something else. Traffic accidents take thousands of lives each year and cause many more people to be scarred and maimed. The newspaper carries news of such accidents every day. Sometimes whole families are wiped out and “firemen took two hours to extricate the mangled bodies from the wreck” Thus it is of utmost importance to us, the road-users, to know some basic facts concerning road safety so that we do not become a victim of such an accident.
While it is impossible to prevent all accidents, we can minimize them.
If we walk, then we must be careful not to get into the path of oncoming traffic, it is far safer and less tense to use an overhead pedestrian bridge or zebra-lines to cross a road. However, for the sake of speed and maybe excitement, many people simply cross a busy street wherever they like. I can imagine that an old lady may have problems climbing an overhead bridge, but mothers with young children take enormous risks by moving across the road under the bridge.
Human flesh and bones cannot hope to challenge unyielding steel. So if we value our lives, it is better to cross the roads via safe routes, not by plying a cat-and-mouse game with cars and buses.
Those who use bicycles and motorcycles are about the worst road offenders there are. Cyclists and motorcyclists constitute the largest number of road fatalities. It is not difficult to see why. Cyclists travel against the traffic, motorcyclists carry five-person instead of the maximum of two and crash helmets are worn carelessly or not at all. Young boys race their souped-up machines in the middle of town. They weave in and out of traffic causing danger to everyone. Many of these young upstarts do not live to see their next birthday. So we should ride our motorcycles with the utmost care and respect for other road users. That way we can hope to live to see our next birthday and the next and so on too.
In the hands of many drivers, the car is an extension of their personality. Reckless driving can result in unpleasant consequences. It is the cause of many accidents. Travel along any road and we can see scores of these would-be-madman overtaking dangerously. Drivers of lorries and other heavy vehicles are the worst culprits. A fully-laden timber truck trying to overtake another one not only holds up traffic but makes it so easy for an unsuspecting oncoming car to smash into them. Then there are army trucks that overtake you at 100 km/h while prominently displaying their limit of 70 km/h to you. These are all causes of accidents. It is quite impossible to expect them to stop doing all these dangerous things. On our part, we should not get involved with these danger-men on purpose. Keep as much distance as possible between you and such people. It would be stupid to race with a lorry or an army truck. or even a -young man on a two-wheeler hoping to make an impression. It is simply stupid to race at all.
So to minimize the probability of being a victim of an accident certain things must be followed. First of all, respect traffic signs and rules; never race with anybody; use pedestrian crossings; keep away from potential dangers and finally ensure that your vehicle, including yourself, are in good condition. Having faulty brakes or blown lamps at night dc not contribute anything to your well-being. Nobody likes broker limbs and spilled blood. Safety is very much up to you.