Yesterday afternoon, on the way to Church, I decided to do something that would have a profound effect on my life. I decided to stick to the speed limit all the way to Church and back.
Looking back at this now, I realised that this caused some stress, not just in my life, but the lives of those around me on the highway as well. Let me explain...
Distance between Church and home is about 40km. About 30 of that is highway. About 15km of the highway is currently under construction of some kind or the other. One part of the highway is being widened, while another part of the highway is being disrupted because of the (in)famous Gautrein project between Pretoria and Johannesburg.
Normally the speed limit on the first and last part of the highway is 120km/h, while the piece in the middle is 100km/h. With the construction in progress, parts of the highway have an 80km/h speed limit.
On the way to Church, it was interesting to see my two teenagers checking the speedometer every now and then to see whether dad would keep to his promise, because they made noises like: "Yeah, right!", and "Let's see how long this lasts!" before the journey began.
Second thing that really made an impression on myself and the kids, was the fact that the old saying of: "Slow and steady wins the race" got a whole new spin yesterday. I wound up in the Midrand area at the same time as a lot of the cars that were "racing" eachother on the highway all around us. Some of these cars were changing lanes up to 5 times per km to try and get ahead!
However, the real revelation came when we were on our way home. I was watching my rear view mirror WAY more than I was watching the road ahead of me. I was staying in the slow lanes of the highway, because that is the thing to do, but people were constantly charging down on me. Some of them narrowly missed running into the back of me...All in the name of getting wherever they were going quickly.
I also realised how many people on the roads were getting upset because I was "holding them back" and preventing them from making progress towards whatever goal they had set themselves. All of this while I was actually being a "Law abiding Citizen" who was intent on not breaking the laws of the road!! Amazing how impatient people get when you actually do what you're supposed to.
Makes me wonder about people's attitude towards the law...Very much like the taxi that ran a red light (not the normal way, either, but just not stopping at a light that had been red for about a minute already!) while the Policemen in the marked police car behind me just sat and shook their heads at him, instead of actually chasing him down and arresting him for reckless and negligent driving.
Must be because it was Sunday afternoon and everyone takes a nap then...
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