Either as a driver or a passenger, it is not fun journeying on the streets of Accra. In both cases, whether in the driving seat or in the passenger seat, you cannot afford to take your eyes and ears off the road. Being on the roads of the city is deeply involving; it demands alertness because of the unsafe nature of the multiple happenings around you. It is getting closer to the end of the year. Typically, this is a period of worsening traffic. As for why it is so, I have tried unsuccessfully to find a reason. It is certainly not because of Christmas shopping because people do complain that they do not have the money and sellers also bemoan that they are not making the sales. Last week, particularly on Thursday, it seemed to me that Accra came to a stop with slow paced traffic which started as early as 2pm. At a stage, I was wondering whether I had missed a local radio announcement to the effect that all cars should be on the streets of Accra to receive anointing. And as if no one wanted to be left out, most roads were choked with cars, irrespective of where one turned for respite. Then Friday was supposed to be a national holiday. I had calculated that the streets would be deserted and therefore an ideal day to get a few things done with less time in the traffic. No, I was wrong. Kaneshie was its usual snail paced vehicular and human traffic. At the Mataheko – Russia intersection, the police were even on duty to supervise traffic movements just as they do during normal week-day rush hours. There was indeed not much to show that it was a holiday as far as traffic on some roads was concerned. I have come to the conclusion that no matter what day, nor the hour, driving on the streets of Accra in non-pleasurable of late. Indeed, it is stressful. The bumper to tail traffic situation, the noises from hooting taxis and tro-tros, the poisonous exhaust fumes we continue to inhale, the criss-crossing of drivers who think that they are the only ones out there to beat time, the dangerous nature of selling by the youth on the streets and in between moving cars are most worrying. They are all happening out there like a scene in a play act – Act one Scene one kind of. It is either you are playing a role in the scene or you are a spectator watching others play their roles. On a typical day as a driver on the streets of Accra, you ask God for forgiveness because of the number of times you get moved to swearing and uttering unprintable words because of what another driver or a pedestrian has done. It reminds me of some learning I took from a driver’s refresher course I attended a few years back. For defensive driving, one is told to always assume that on the road, everybody else is insane including the pedestrians. You become the only sane person on the road and so you drive as such and not copy the outraged ways of the others. On a typical day as a driver in the city, you bet to come across a few defunct traffic lights. I understand there are over 150 traffic lights in Accra alone out of which about 42 are perpetually faulty. At these faulty traffic lights intersections, many self appointed traffic wardens who by all means must eat have taken over and are in control. They will harass you till you part with something. They can be irritating at times but without them too it can be chaotic and dangerous so you bear with them and give when you have a coin or two at hand. How about those young sellers on our major and busy roads shuffling in between some ill functioning brake systems and clutch failing vehicles – not so road worthy vehicles? These sellers do the moon walk so well when traffic slows down. They will criss-cross in front of moving cars to chase after customers; they will squeeze through parallel moving vehicles and sometimes will dangerously bend down to retrieve a coin which a customer has thrown out to them from a moving vehicle. With smiles and laughter, these young ones do not weigh the grave dangers they put their lives through each day as they come prepared each day to sell to make money. They may be making a living but it is a life too risky to venture into. How many times have some of them not been run down by moving vehicles? If as drivers and passengers we stop patronising their services in protest, would we be helping them in any way? At the moment, we readily buy their wares with not the slightest guilty about how we are contributing to keeping them there in those dangerous spots. You certainly would not complete any journey within the sprawling city of Accra without an encounter with a “tro-tro” or taxi driver. Ubiquitous as they are, they are also a nightmare. They would never give you way and yet expect that you salute them and give them the right of way all the time. If you are a woman driver and you attempt to challenge their macho, woe be unto you. To them their Bible says that a woman should always be submissive to men. End of the story. The attitude of some pedestrians on our streets adds to the dangerous nature of driving in the city. Sometimes you wonder whether some pedestrians, by the way and manner they cross the road, are looking for fat compensations or a rest in a hospital so they can have the juicy breakfasts followed by good lunches and supers provided by the driver and or his insurance company. No, some people cross the road unmindful of whether they get knocked down or not. For some too, it always looks like the “burden” on them is such that they forget themselves with their thoughts wondering somewhere else other than being in the middle of a busy road. I boarded a taxi last week after I dropped off my car at the workshop for a routine servicing. I love to chat to taxi drivers. They have a great sense of humour and a good understanding of the politics of this country. I remember two taxi drivers that I used this time last year as we were in the middle of that challenging general elections. Some of their predictions did come to pass I must say. Due to the “care-free” manner in which they drive, I prefer to sit at the back when using a taxi. My taxi driver of last week found me too quiet sitting in his car so some fifteen minutes into our journey, he decided to break the silence after an elderly man crossed him. His sudden outburst was, “Christ, this old man”. Then he continued to narrate how life in Accra seems to be hot for everyone, old and young. According to him, the old man who had carelessly crossed him a few moments ago was worrying about where his breakfast is going to come from. He continued, “Madam, life is hard so you people should talk for us.” He succeeded in dragging me into the conversation instantly. Me to talk for whom? Did he know my problems? I quickly referred to how much he said he was going to charge me for that short journey and whether I did not need someone to speak for me too. Our conversation turned to the difficult situation we are in and the sakawa menace for which heinous crimes of all proportions are being committed by the youth in search of wealth. So soon my journey ended so we had to end our conversation. But back to the streets of Accra, I remember an email message a friend forwarded to me the other day and the same seems to be going round as text messages. Drivers are warned that the trick of some robbers lately is that at some isolated places, they will throw an egg on the windscreen of their victim at night. The advice is that if it happens to you, according to the message I received, do not stop. Neither do you use water spray to clean your wind screen. It will blur your view and that will give them the opportunity to attack and rob you. If you feel you are in danger, just try and make it to the nearest place where there would be people to assist you. Several other tricks abound, particularly driving at night this time of the year. Driving on the streets of Accra is definitely a prayer topic. You thank your stars each day you go through it and get home with your vehicle, soul and body intact. It is a nightmare and gets even more agonising as the season of peace and merry making dawns on us. Written by Vicky Wireko Source: Daily Graphic Reality Zone With Vicky Wireko Email: vickywirekoandoh@yahoo.com