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Open Poetry #47
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Regular South African Traffic News
| Open Poetry #47 |
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Regular South African Traffic News |
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OwlSA Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347Durban, South Africa 
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REGULAR SOUTH AFRICAN TRAFFIC NEWS 15 November 2011 Nineteen killed in crash taxi drivers yet again lawlessness abounds Owl |
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| © Copyright 2011 Diana van den Berg - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Earth Angel Member Empyrean
since 2002-08-27
Posts 40215Realms of Light |
Oh, Diana! How completely horrifying! I know one thing for certain, I'd rather ride on the back of a cow than to step into a taxi in South Africa! Love you! Linda  |
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OwlSA Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347Durban, South Africa |
Thanks for your reply, Linda. More than half (at a rough guess) of all drivers in South Africa don't obey many of the rules of the road, but the taxi-drivers are the worst! Of course, you get the few taxi-drivers who are considerate and law-abiding, but they are in the minority. We have both 18-seater and 35-seater mini-bus taxis here. Taxi-owners also are very much at fault. They push their drivers to squash the taxis as full as possible - sometimes to double the number they are legally allowed and to travel as fast as they can in order to bring in as much money as possible. The taxi drivers also sit on the tail of other drivers and weave in and out of traffic, passing where it is illegal and extremely dangerous and often cause head-on accidents. Many taxi-drivers drink heavily. Long distance bus drivers are nearly as bad and because they carry more passengers, the number of deaths is higher per accident. Taxi-owners and bus-owners also often have vehicles on the road that are not roadworthy. There are measures in place to try to reduce the bad driving and unroadworthiness, but they are not enough. Lawlessness is the greatest cause. The worst is when school children are the victims. There have been about 3 horror crashes that made national news (so many of them don't) in the last few months involving school children. Yes, I, too, would rather ride a cow. In fact, I would love to ride a cow, a camel and an ostrich. I have only ridden 2 oxen (in an ox-riding competition) and, of course, Flicka and many other horses. Love and hugs Owl |
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Margherita Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236Eternity |
So sad, dear Owl. And your explanation adds to the disquieting reaction. Thank you for sharing this tough reality so impressively with us. May things change, with authorative interventions! Love, Margherita |
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Marchmadness Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271So. El Monte, California |
I don't know how you cope with all of that, Diana. You're a better woman than I am. That's all I can say. Makes me realize how few problems we have here. Take care. Ida |
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2islander2 Member Ascendant
since 2008-03-12
Posts 6825by the sea |
hi diana, progress is so slow in minds, so many lives could be saved, this is a percutant poem, short but strong, have a nice day yann |
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