If we really wanted to make a difference on our roads, to really save lives, we would need to look at the biggest causes of road accidents, and do something about those causes. Makes sense, ne?
There’s one big factor that, if we were to make a change in it, would have the single biggest effect on road safety. It’s booze, dop, alcohol, call it what you like, but know that it cannot, must not, does not mix with driving.
I know, it seems like a no-brainer, but still people drink, drive, and kill other people.
The facts are that more than half of all road-related deaths in the Western Cape are a direct result of alcohol. That means over 700 people per year dying tragically. It can be avoided, and the change begins with you.
It starts with our attitudes, and thinking. We can be tempted to say “Ag, it’s just one dop, and everybody does it anyway, so how can it hurt?” We’ve just shown how it hurts. Then there’s the peer pressure, where drinking and driving is seen as a way to be the man, to be seen to be “handling your dop”. Bobby says test your manhood in other ways.
The fact is that booze dulls the senses, messes with reaction times and perception. That’s why people drink after all. But a messed-up kop cannot drive a car properly. The car becomes a hurtling lump of killer metal.
Bobby has noticed that drinking and driving is no longer the accepted thing. It was never cool. And it should not be tolerated by us, or by the authorities.
Make another plan, catch a taxi, or just stay put and sleep it off. If your friend is dronk and wanting to drive, take his keys away.