Comment by Kevin Duffy, a professor at the institute of Systems Science at the Durban University of Technology:
Based on my estimation of the overall state of the world, SA is a great place to live. But of course it could be better and we all know what some of the larger problems are. Often individuals feel helpless to make changes and one question is: what can we do?
Well, if I were to run away from our country, top of my list of reasons by far would be the dangers of driving on our roads. We can bemoan the lack of policing or blame one another, but in the end, each of us is to blame. This is one aspect of our society that each one of us can improve.
The greatest irony is that the way South Africans drive is not only dangerous, but probably also hugely pointless. Statistics bear out the enormous dangers of driving on our roads. Walking near our roads is even more treacherous. So why do we speed, jump lights and generally drive like lunatics?
The answer can only be that we perceive some individual benefits in doing so. However, are there benefits? I am initiating a research project to get some understanding of this question, focusing on the city of Durban.
I am one of the culprits and the idea to investigate this issue came to me recently as my wife was complaining about my driving. However, to understand the issue better, one must ask which aspects are important. These are some that I have highlighted so far:
By breaking traffic rules:
-Do individuals save significant time?
-What, if any, are the economic benefits?
-What levels of stress are involved and what are the consequences?
-What knock-on effects exist for the greater community of SA in terms of crime in general, morale and morality?
My gut feeling is that simple answers to these questions are “no” to the first two points and “a lot” to the last two. Using some data published on the internet as a rough guide and my wife’s commute as an example, I calculated a possible saving of four hours a month if she constantly drove 20km over the speed limit. Even the most hardened SA business executive in a flashy convertible is not going to manage this, so I estimate also that one might be able to push being 20km over the speed limit up to a fourth of one’s driving time. Therefore, these rough calculations estimate a saving of an hour a month when speeding.
My own guess is that this is about as good as it gets, even taking into account all the traffic rules we break to get to our destinations quicker. So let us assume that I am correct and we save an hour a month, which presumably saves not only time but also money. Now what about the costs?
Doing some rough estimates and using a running cost guide provided by the AA and some published results, it would cost my wife about R1500 in fuel and maintenance costs a month to go constantly 20km over the speed limit.
Again dividing by four, one gets a value of about R400 a month. For people with regular wage and salary incomes, and who can afford cars, the salary range in SA is R40-R400 an hour. So, if you are saving an hour’s travel time a month, then even at the best salaries, the speeding costs you as much in fuel. This analysis excludes the costs of fines, accident/hospital bills, fatigue and stress.
The details of these types of calculations are what we at the research institute will study further.
Let us now consider the last two questions on my list, which in my opinion are the most important ones.
Every time we jump a light or break the speed limit we are damaging our own self-esteem. Many complain about the low moral fibre of our society and yet we corrupt it and ourselves every day.
We endanger ourselves, but worse, we endanger the children of our friends and our own families.
Each time we do so, we know that it eats at our hearts, or it should. We should also know that we are weak in the way that a big, strong, seemingly tough person is weak when they bully a smaller person.
Yes, rape, murder and robbery are worse, but in this matter, those with real humanity among us can stand together and make a change.
I propose that South Africans band together under the banner “Siyahamba kahle” (We go gently) and that each member of this group display a round yellow sticker on their car affirming that they will try their best not to break the rules of the road.
Let us take SA back and love it as the child it is.
I would see this as a caring group, not a judgemental or puritanical one. For example, if a member was speeding, other members would make way, assuming that it was necessary for that person to speed or that they were just having an off day. I would hope that members would be proud and self-disciplined, not concerned with the behaviour of others. Ironically, this was the way we were all brought up. Now, we need a club to reaffirm this.
Take back our roads; do not wait for the police to do it for us. -The Star