Show us the light … Lead SA



news.bbc.co.uk

 The laudable Lead SA campaign is exhorting all drivers in South Africa to drive with their vehicle headlights on.

It is claimed that doing this will help bring down road carnage, in respect of which, alas, South Africa is now one of the World leaders.

I have just returned from dropping off my lovely daughters at work. I travelled about 60 kms and came across some 500 or so other vehicles on the road, only three (3) of which had their lights on.

Guess what? I could see all these vehicles as clearly as I could see the steering wheel of my car, the watch on my wrist and vendors darting in out of the traffic.

So the question must be posed. What in the name of heaven is the point of having headlights on … if one can see vehicles perfectly with their headlights off?

Is it imagined that the road carnage is largely attributable to the fact that vehicles are not visible to the human eye?  It is? Is it really? Is that the problem?

Since this simpy cannot be the case, then the answer must be that vehicles are “not sufficiently visible”, so their visibility needs to be enhanced. That is the only answer indicated.

WOW! Objects that are perfectly visible need to have their visibility enhanced? With respect, how more daft can we get?

fotosearch.com

This stance certainly has application to motor cycles and cycles which can sometimes blend with the background … but vehicles?

Think it through. When everyone becomes “conditioned’ to seeing vehicles on account of the now ocular “headlights trigger”, concomitantly they will have been conditioned to not see a vehicle whose lights are off. We will have created new danger on the roads because, as sure as night follows day, any amount of vehicles will travel without headlights, for reasons as varied as the birds in our skies.

Remember this. The late Dr. Mantombazana 'Manto' Edmie Tshabalala-Msimang contended that poverty alleviation coupled with ingesting good vegetables and herbs, like beetroot and garlic, would be effective in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

We all poo pooed her, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. We heaped opprobrium on her.

Guess what. She was not wrong. Her claim was, in itself, correct. But, as with the “lights on” campaign,  it was not an answer to the problem posed. It was “band aid” stuff. It was daft!

Oh yes Lead SA will say – “studies have shown that … having lights on does lead to a reduction … blah blah …”

We can also have no doubt whatsoever that studies would also show that using neon paint and flashing lights on vehicles will have the same result. Will we then do that? Of cause not!

Do we really want to now add lights, of infinitely different capacities, some “zeon”, some bright, some dim … etc … to the bedlam on our roads?

So, can we please all just take a step back and, like my friend M, see the reality of the situation. Our road carnage is due to many other factors. Except as regards motor cycles, cyclists and pedestrian in certain situations, these do not include not being able to see other vehicles.

We need to tackle these factors, starting with the primary driver of all of them – irresponsible road use culture.

When in doubt, tell the truth

Mark Twain