Opinion: 10 commandments to DRIVE lekker this holiday

Drive lekker is my refrain for the rest of the festive season. It’s crazy out there, people, so, before you embark on your holiday, please perform the sign of the cross, recite the Rosary and drive lekker. You are driving in South Africa after all. The place where there were 11 883 recorded road accident deaths in 2023. 1 285 of those occurred over the festive season alone. That’s 61 per day over the December break.

PLEASE DRIVE LEKKER

I doubt I’m alone in thinking South African road users are out of control these days. Driving anywhere in our major cities, townships, suburbs or highways can be a terrifying ordeal. It’s the culture of lawlessness on our roads that’s to blame. Speeding, queue-jumping, ignoring road signs and a general aversion to rational road etiquette have simply become the norm in Mzansi. I see this crazy behaviour every day, and there are global statistics to support the assertion.

South Africa has one of the highest road mortality rates in the world (19.39 deaths per 100 000 population) in 2023. This is higher than the global average of 15. Likewise, the World Health Organisation ranks South Africa 136 out of 175 countries for unsafe roads, according to its Global Status report. It is this deadly cocktail of speed and lawlessness that leads to hundreds of fatalities every month. Unless we start to choose to drive lekker …

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS

It’s so bad, many are turning to religion for guidance. And would you believe it, there actually is a ten commandments for road safety. Yes, Moses came down the mountain with the original Ten Commandments, but the Vatican City felt the need to recreate an official document for driving. It’s called Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road and you can read the full text at the link.

It’s no parody but rather a postmodern script that warns against drivers using their cars in ‘occasions of sin.’ The Vatican believes driving can bring out ‘primitive behaviour’ in motorists. These include ‘impoliteness’, ‘rude gestures’ and ‘blasphemy’. And driving also provides opportunity to ‘dominate others by speed and aggression.’ I’m not making any of this up …

DRIVE WITH A MORAL SENSE

The ten driving commandments say we should instead drive with a ‘moral sense’. Basically, if we drive lekker and be charitable to others, it’ll encourage others motorists to do the same. So, please refrain from drinking and driving, buckle up and generally exercise religious virtues over the festive season. Be a Roman Catholic on the road and avoid becoming a scary statistic.

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