[Image: YouTube]
There was a time when reckless driving wasn’t that loud. It would usually happen with one oke trying to impress another oke at a robot after midnight. Now, it comes with hashtags, dashboard footage, shaky cellphone clips and a comment section full of flame emojis.
South Africa’s appetite for speed has officially entered its influencer era, and according to criminal law expert Cornelia van Graan, social media is helping push dangerous driving into the mainstream because of “the need for likes and popularity”, reported The Citizen.
Van Graan was reacting to videos posted by a content creator who filmed himself speeding and driving recklessly through the Kruger National Park. She acknowledged that becoming a “social influencer” is now a “legitimate career choice”, with viral videos capable of bringing in serious money. The problem is that more and more people, influencer or not, are posting clips of themselves doing well over 200km/h like they’re auditioning for the next Fast & Furious: Gauteng Drift.
A handful of commenters disapproved. A handful.
Van Graan said the behaviour needs to be prosecuted properly because punishment is meant to act as a deterrent, not just a slap on the wrist followed by another upload.
Her comments come just weeks after 25-year-old Phillip Bezuidenhout died as a passenger during an illegal street race in Pretoria on 3 May. Friends and family gathered at the AGS Herlewingsentrum in Pretoria to say goodbye to him, with his mother delivering the kind of statement nobody ever wants to make.
“If anything should come from his death, it should be illegal street racing stops,” she said.
She added that her son wasn’t someone who liked fast cars or speed, and she couldn’t say whether it was his first time attending the notorious Steve Biko Road racing scene. Yet there he was, another name added to the country’s terrifying road death statistics.
An estimated 40% of the more than 21 000 annual road deaths in South Africa are linked to speeding. That’s not a “bad weekend” problem anymore.
Automobile Association of South Africa CEO Bobby Ramagwede said thrill-seekers should take their horsepower fantasies somewhere designed for it. “Historically, we are known for bringing elite motor sporting events such as the F1 to SA. “The last one was in 1993, and behind that banner of motorsport, we would encourage anyone who wants to participate in some sort of drag racing or other motorsport activity at a track.”
Ramagwede pointed to places like Killarney in Cape Town, where legal drag nights happen in controlled conditions instead of next to a Spur and a traffic light. “The track or road is built for that purpose, and it is done under controlled environments. When it comes to speedsters and hooligans in national parks, we don’t condone that kind of behaviour.”
Ramagwede also reminded people that roads exist to get humans from one place to another alive. “When we start letting people use roads as sporting arenas, we forget the purpose of the road.” Simple enough, but apparently not simple enough for the Sunday-night crowds gathering at Steve Biko Road in Pretoria, where illegal street racing has reportedly been happening for decades.
Motor Industry Staff Association operations chief executive Martlé Keyter said spectators are part of the problem too. “Steve Biko Road in Pretoria has been notorious for illegal street races on Sunday nights for decades, yet it continues to happen despite weekly attempts by law enforcement authorities to patrol the road. “It is time those supporting this deadly game with potentially fatal consequences are called out. No sentence opposed by the courts will be equivalent to the lives lost,” she said.
That’s the thing about these events. The racers want attention, and the crowds keep giving it to them.
University of Limpopo criminology and criminal justice head Prof Witness Maluleka said road rules are “rarely obeyed” in South Africa, which honestly might be the least controversial statement ever made in this country. Meanwhile, DA Tshwane spokesperson on community safety Ally Makhafula has called on the Tshwane Metro Police Department to crack down harder on illegal racing.
“It is illegal and dangerous in nature and poses threats to the lives and safety of innocent residents and motorists. If it continues unabated, more lives will be lost,” he said. Makhafula added that authorities have received repeated complaints about the racing hotspot over the years.
The country’s road carnage has also claimed a long list of political heavyweights. At least 12 ministers, deputy ministers and provincial MECs have died in crashes since 2008, including Bavelile Hlongwa, Collins Chabane and Molefi Sefularo. One of the most shocking was the 2015 crash that killed then public service and administration minister Collins Chabane.
Investigators estimated his Volkswagen Touareg was travelling close to 200km/h in a 120km/h zone before smashing into a truck making an illegal U-turn on the N1. The crash was so violent that there were no brake marks, and the driver was flung from the vehicle.
The ugly reality that social media clips rarely show is the aftermath. Alongside a cool speedometer is a slew of funerals, grieving families and another reminder that physics doesn’t care how many followers you have.
[Source: The Citizen]
