We should stop skirting around road safety issues

A scene of an accident along the Embu-Chuka road on Thursday morning 14 August, it involves a pick up and private Nissan matatu.The driver of the pick up heading to Chuka died on the spot after lost his control and crash head on, while his occupant and the driver of the Nissan rushed to Embu Level 5 Hospital in a critical condition.Photo Kibata Kihu.

The debate about the length of the dress has dominated interaction on new media sites as well as occupied acres of spaces in the traditional media platforms. Not that I expected it to go away so soon, but the rate at which it is gaining notoriety is alarming.

During UN Remembrance Day for road crash victims marked recently, it was stated that pedestrians wearing short, flimsy clothes have been linked to rising cases of fatal road accidents as most drivers do not take their eyes off “lovely figures, especially if they are wearing pretty much next to nothing.”

According to a statement linked to St John’s Ambulance, “stealing a quick glance at an attractive pedestrian may well be a bit of fun but, on a serious note, drivers should not underestimate this type of distraction.

Drive safely regardless of how short those skirts come these days.”

Highway code

At a time when we should be condemning the recent disgraceful act of violence against an innocent woman solely based on her dress-code, it is unfortunate that these unsubstantiated claims have been made.

They may not be insensitive but the timing of the social discourse on women’s clothing and the resultant striping of women witnessed recently makes it fodder for brutal criticism. At this rate, we are going to blame the skimpy skirts, for insecurity, drought and inflation as well as Arsenal’s poor form.

But can an experienced driver really crash his vehicle simply because he is staring at a bevy of beauties?

Drivers do all sorts of things all the time; things that would certainly lead into an unfortunate appointment with your insurer if not your maker.

But to put mini-skirts in this league is putting the little cloth too high on serious issues.

Hot-blooded drivers

There are a myriad of things that can get you killed on the road but skimpily dressed women is far from them.

We have lorry drivers who do not give a hoot about the efficiency of the brakes leave alone the brake lights; we have tankers that drive as if they are the real lords of Kenyan roads; we have motorcyclists who appear to think that they can be as swift as cheetahs.

We have drivers of small Toyotas who want to compete with Subaru Foresters and Outbacks.

Harndcart pushers

We have hand cart pushers who cannot give way to any other road user apart from the President.

We have hot-bloodied young drivers who want to show off their newly-acquired toys on the road and finally we have the passenger service vehicle drivers who believe that the Highway Code is a Babylonian attempt to deny them their daily bread.

Those of us who have had the pleasure to drive on Nairobi–Meru Road are alive to the fact that every time you get home alive, you thank your God for enabling you to get out of the way of those those miraa carrying pick-up trucks that hurtle down the roads.

These situations are more likely to see you meet your maker prematurely than young distressed damsels dressed skimpily by the road side.

That is the long and short of it!