The month of December is finally here and we can all safely say we can see 2019 on the horizon. Every year starts with many laying out plans on what they intend to work on and archive. Some of the goals are common like going back to the gym or simply working harder to earn just a little more than what one is already earning. The clamour for better health and wealth is almost universal for all of us. The only difference is the discipline to keep at it. January almost always turns out to be harsh on many people particularly because it comes with a lot of financial demands yet it follows a month in which not much work is done. I have grown to envy people like entertainers who do a lot of work in this last month and do this by taking money from the rest of us who want to relax and enjoy as we slide into another year. For these guys, January is less harsh as they can survive on the stash of money collected over the festive season. The last month of the year is also the one in which many prefer to have their weddings and in this part of the world a wedding is not one if it is not big enough to bankrupt the newlyweds. If you are at that age where most of your peers are tying the knot they you have probably been added to at least four wedding organising groups by now. You are expected to contribute and attend these weddings especially because when it is your turn, you will most likely need the same kind of support. The festive season is always crowned by arguably the biggest tourism act that Africans partake in which is the annual urban to rural visit where those who have been toiling away in the cities head to their ancestral homes. This journey not being a regular one often turns out deadly for some as the highways get busy. Poor driving and other human errors result in fatal accidents on these roads when cars drive into each other or lose control and roll over and over. This is a month where caution on the roads is very important. If you do not regularly drive long distances on our highways then you need to be a lot more careful. The highway is very different from the city roads that many are used to. On the highway you will find all sizes of cars moving at very high speeds, the usual small errors in town are life ending on the highway. It is important to ensure that your car is in a good mechanical condition and you the driver is well rested and careful. Caution on your part is the very first step to making it through this last month into the next year. That seat belt was placed in the car for you not for the traffic officer ahead. In case of an accident it likely to save you not the officer on the road. Use it. If you are in a car with a reckless driver try and speak out. Driving under the influence of alcohol and or fatigue is a deadly thing on our roads. There is also no point in boarding an over loaded car that puts more lives at risk. Plan your travels early so that you don’t have to find yourself in desperate situations that may compel you to put your life at risk. On the part of the regulation, I am glad that the road safety week was just a short while back and I hope many took heed of the lessons. Again because many of our drivers are just used to driving within the city, you will be shocked by how many of them do not even understand what the road signs on highways mean. They will therefore be found overtaking at the wrong spots, driving on shoulders and not recognising that some corners can only be manoeuvred at much lower speeds. Caution on the roads is your responsibility and where you fail on that then the regulations like the traffic laws should come down hard on you. This is the time that traffic officers ought to be even stricter on anyone flaunting the laws of the road. Unfortunately, some officers think that this is an opportunity to extort bribes from drivers. Such officers have no idea how much they endanger other road users by allowing the rogue ones to stay on the road.. Email: ssenyonga@gmail.com Blog: www.ssenyonga.wordpress.com Twitter: @ssojo81 The views expressed in this article are of the author.
