IT’S funny, or not so funny maybe if you are behind the wheel, how travelling and traffic can bring out the best and/or worst in people.
Not that many people are comfortable flying yet they seem calm enough when the plane defies gravity and propels itself into the sky.
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But put those same people in an end-of-days type gridlock traffic jam and a very grumpy side can emerge, manifesting itself in some quite appalling behaviour.
It took roughly four hours to get from King Shaka International Airport to Hibberdene last Friday.
This was thanks to the highway being cordoned off near Toti to investigate the shooting of an off-duty policeman.
To make matters even more viscous, a truck broke down causing further delays.
My wife, genius that she is, phoned ahead to notify myself and a colleague – and advised we take the Prospecton off-ramp.
“Wonder if the highway has opened up,” I mused hopefully, a couple of kilometres down the road.
However, it was soon apparent that many other motorists were also married to a genius.
That side road has probably never had so much traffic before, ever. Well, at least south-bound traffic.
As the sky darkened and flashes of lightning lit the sky it had a slight apocalyptic feel.
Motorists pulled off risky three-point turns to escape the quagmire.
We listened to the radio for updates as cars inched along and clutches burnt out.
Taxi drivers, already everyone’s go-to ‘blamee’, certainly lived up to their reckless reputation, gunning it down open spaces of road, never mind that it was horrifyingly contra-flow!
The lack of concern for their own lives, never mind those of their seat-clutching passengers, is staggeringly and breathtakingly impressive, yet terrifying.
At the same time many dug in for the long haul, prepared to – if you’ll excuse the pun – ride it out.
Many let others in to the flow, waving and smiling.
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If South Africans can combine this mix of hell-for-leather daring with unending patience and fortitude, then who knows what we could achieve as a nation.
But first, a little consideration for each other on the roads.
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