Insanity on the roads of Lilongwe

Over the past few weeks and months, a number of traffic lights have been installed in places which previously didn’t have them or vandalised ones have been replaced. These devices were placed there with the aim of bringing sanity to the roads of Lilongwe. Unfortunately, there are a few cowboys and cowgirls on our roads who have great disrespect for these expensive traffic regulators.

Frowning cowgirl

Over the past weekend, I happened to be waiting patiently, like most other sane drivers, for the robots to turn green. And green they turned. What happens next? Some cowgirl appeared from nowhere and drove straight into my path and stopped right in front of me because the line she was joining was backed up for some reason. Then she looks at me, frown on her face, and muttered some words which I didn’t get to hear. I was tempted to roll down my window and spew out some choice words but the angel in me told me not to. I was taught as a child never to argue with fools and idiots!

Learn why we have traffic lights!

I think it is high time people started respecting traffic regulations. In this case, this woman jumped a red light but still went nowhere because there was a jam in front of her. She also ran the risk of bashing my car and injuring me and others in the process. Traffic police need to get on top of this situation to avoid anarchy on our roads. Police in Blantyre at one point brought about strict traffic light compliance, Lilongwe should do the same. The road traffic department also needs to plug the source of fake licenses, like the one this lady is obviously in possession of.

Let’s flush out this insanity on the roads of our beautiful city.

Image: Hansueli Krapf