Driving like crazy

Reckless driving has been the topic of the week. While having sushi on Wednesday, the Poetress described the car accident she was involved (and luckily unhurt) in close to Cape Coast last weekend. Yesterday, we witnessed a car accident opposite Shell and Golden Tulip. A car that had been swerving through the lanes, trying to get wherever as fast as possible, (or as we suspect, the two guys were trying to impress the two girls in the car), caught on to the back bumper of a truck in front of it, this caused the car to abruptly turn and flip, landing in a ditch on the side of the road.

From what we saw, it seemed as if the four people were not too badly injured, apparently one had a gushing wound but the others were ok (subject to internal bleedings of course) and they were all able to get out without assistance, but not much was left of the car. I would like to ask the driver whether it was worth it for the two minutes he would have saved going towards Tetteh Quarshie.

A few minutes ago, the actor Kwame Owusu-Ansah was confirmed dead after driving into a truck that had apparently parked in the slow lane on the motorway to Tema last night. I had never heard of him but apparently he is a well known actor.

As someone who drives on the motorway every day, (have already been back and forth on it today) and often sees trucks driving at 30km/h without any lights at all (and for those who don't know, there are still NO STREET LIGHTS on the motorway), I know that his accident and death could easily happen to anyone at any time.

I can't help but wonder when something concrete is going to be done to reduce the amount of reckless driving and accidents on our streets. When will streetlights on a motorway with an average speed of 100-120 km/h be prioritised over flower gardens at Danquah Circle, Cantonments roundabout and other places? When will policemen stop the taxis and trotros that cross over to drive against traffic on the dirt patch by El Wak stadium (as witnessed a few hours ago) instead of looking for bribes from the ex-pats in huge 4x4s?

When will we have anything other than prayer, faith or luck to protect us on a drive anywhere at anytime???

Convoy of Idiots

On my journey from the client's office in Tema to the office this afternoon, I was stuck behind a convoy of idiots on the motorway. Seriously, it was a convoy, about nine or ten cars with their hazard lights on, driving at 95km/h...in the fast lane. They perfectly blocked us all so nobody would be able to pass.

But it was actually worse when we got to Tetteh Quarshie. I suspect one car was on the verge of breaking down, or maybe he just needed to sneeze, so naturally, as you do, he just braked. From 80km/h to 0. Of course his fellow idiots did the same thing and halted to a stop, leaving the rest of us screeching, trying to also stop in time.

When he realised there was nothing wrong with his car, he and his friends joined the road (in the curve that leads us to join the Legon cars), as you do, without looking or checking if anyone else was actually already on the road, forcing about five sensible drivers to swerve off the road to avoid an accident.

There is something about Fridays, weekends and national holidays. For some reason the driving is so much more reckless. If only it were because people were drunk, at least we'd have an explanation, but I suspect their stone sober. Is it that, when leaving the office for a few days off, people leave their brains behind, to be able to get in to that extra relaxed mood?

Before I even get started on the things that went on in traffic around Christmas (u-turns on the motorway, anyone?), let me just make a general plea: as you're about to leave the office for the week, make sure your thinking machine is with you, just like your bag, phone and keys and let's all have a great weekend starting...now!