Rules of the Road

Roadway driving in South Africa continues to intrigue me. Firstly, we drive on the left side of the road, I’m sure due to the legacy of British colonialism in the early twentieth century. A traffic light is called a robot. I’m not sure exactly where that comes from, but directions to any location will certainly include references to some robot somewhere so it is an important lesson. Crosswalks exist, but their function is sort of analogous to the death warning on a pack of cigarettes; they don’t really deter people from doing what they want to do. Therefore, there is nothing significant about people playing Frogger as they dodge cars hopping from lane to lane to get to the other side.

The best lesson, however, is that rules of the road are less like rules, and a little more like, say… guidelines. Painted lines differentiating roadway lanes are more like gentle reminders than strict and ardent rules of law. Driving on the shoulder is permissible, even encouraged, to allow another car to pass. Furthermore, it’s much better to step on the throttle while entering a round-about than it is to stop or slow down in effort to be ‘courteous’. Otherwise, you’ll get an earful from other drivers. And hooting- that is, honking ones horn- is highly encouraged… under any circumstance.

And then there’s taxi’s, the deeply loathed lifeblood of South African transportation. In South Africa there’s a big difference between a ‘taxi’ and a ‘cab’. A cab is a for-hire vehicle that takes one person from one location to another location specified by the passenger. A taxi, on the other hand, is a mini-bus that runs along certain routes that may or may not be altered at the discretion of the driver. Taxi’s seat about twelve and often carry about twenty or more through the city to varying suburbs and townships. Now I’m getting to the loathing part.

Any road rule, or even guideline, exempts taxis. And this refers to much more than occupancy levels, which can double- or more- the legal limit. Taxis are the beasts of the highway. They will scream pass you on the shoulder of the freeway in rush hour traffic. Taxis are obliged to cut in front of any car for nearly any reason or at any time. They stop suddenly and without warning in the middle of the roadway to pick up a potential customer. And regardless of the law, one must always yield the right of way to a taxi. These merciless metal brutes rule the road, literally, it’s just the type of South African driving lesson one must learn from experience.