Seven guidelines that will make Monday-morning traffic a breeze

Horns, waving fingers, flying fists and the sound of screeching tyres. What would Monday mornings be without them?

I have observed how violent our country has become in the past few years, and our roads seem to be the new war zone.

I know there are a whole lot of careless motorists on our roads these days, careless motorists such as you and me.

We leave home in a rush to go to work and already start to anticipate the traffic jams, temper tantrums and the selfish fellow road users who refuse to give you right of way.

When you get to work, you are fired up and ready to share some of that attitude with anyone who crosses your path.

What do we gain by doing this? Nothing but a headache and a handful of enemies.

I used to be this road user, but the way I adapted my habits provided for much more pleasant mornings.

Here are a few simple rules that could make a major change on our roads.

1.)    Don’t take chances. I see you at the Corlett-Ontdekkers intersection in the morning. Those green arrows are long gone when you decide it’s a good idea to slip through. Don’t do it.

2.)    Make a habit of giving fellow motorists right of way. I promise you it costs nothing to give the other motorist right of way when you both awkwardly stop at the intersection at the same time. It makes you feel better about yourself and you make someone’s day. To practice this method, pretend that every other person on the road is one of your loved ones.

3.)    Understand other motorists’ circumstances as if it were your own. The other day my car’s clutch cable snapped while I was driving. All I could do was flick on my hazards and continue running in first gear until I actually found a place to pull over safely. In situations such as those, I promise you, your temper tantrums behind me only serve to amuse me. Nothing can be done. If you see that person blocking a whole lane of traffic by being stationary, relax. I can almost guarantee that they didn’t voluntarily choose to chill in the middle of the road. And the day it happens to you, you will understand.

4.)    Don’t try to be smart with taxi drivers. Yes they irritate us all with their “I am the king of the road” attitudes, but what do we really achieve by pointing out their recklessness? Most of the time they are fully aware that their driving habits border on illegal and could endanger the lives of others, but in the hustle for the next client (more profit) they don’t really care. Take some advice from me. If you are driving behind a taxi, start looking for the first opportunity to get in front of it, calmly. If you get stuck behind them while they stop to pick up passengers, take a deep breath and wait it out. It’s not going to make a difference to the time you arrive at your destination.

5.)    Remind yourself that everyone around share your sentiments about traffic. Never pretend that you are the only one being affected by traffic. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. If traffic makes you late, it only means that you should have left earlier, and seeing that you can’t turn back time, make peace with the fact that you didn’t. Life goes on.

6.)    If you swear at someone or give them the finger, make sure you are some bodybuilder tough enough to face the music when that person decides to get out and come say hello face to face at your next stop. Your car is not a protective invisibility shield. People can see your face and decide to confront you if you act all tough behind the wheel.

7.)    Lastly, we all make mistakes. If someone makes a mistake and acknowledges it (and hopefully apologises), keep the details of how stupid that mistake was to yourself, nod to them and go on with your life. PS: I’m not talking about conscious reckless decisions (refer to point 1) such as motorists running red lights and windgat outjies spinning their car’s wheels and “accidentally” losing control of their vehicles.

The thing to remember is that you might not be able to avoid traffic issues, but you can change the way you handle it and subsequently how you feel about it.