Impossible pedestrians!!

Pedestrians in Kenya are a funny lot, particularly the men folk and many are the instances where a pedestrian will walk on the road without a care in the world as if he were some sort of latter day Incredible Hulk immune to injuries afflicted by a mere motor vehicle. They will saunter on the road risking life and limb inches from following or oncoming vehicles as if daring any motorist to be man enough to mow them down and suffer the consequences of a damaged vehicle, possible injury and death and the Incredible Hulk wannabe walking off without a scratch. 
I am sure that many an accident has happened due to the carelesness of pedestrians on our Kenyan roads. In any case many roads lack adequate road shoulders, pedestrian and cycling paths thus forcing pedestrians to walk on the road to avoid dust and mud while going to their destinations. But this should be no excuse to expose oneself to the dangers of possible injury or death from speeding motorists.   

I seem to recall that many years ago while in primary school we used to get regular road safety lessons. The mantra 'look left, look right then left again and if there are no cars then cross the road' was drummed into our young minds long ago as were to only cross a busy road at the zebra crossing, not to walk on the road, but on the sidewalk/pavement etc, etc. I wonder if this still happens today in our primary schools?

From the casual and careless way Kenyans cross roads/walk on roads today, I wonder what kinds of role models we are for our kids because kids naturally imitate their parents and where they imitate a wrong then they do it trusting in the knowledge and comfort that their parents are leading them by example.  

Pedestrians ought to be aware that there are drivers/motorists who are half blind, drunk, tired, careless, stressed and who drive decrepit and unroadworthy vehicles with defective brakes, cracked windscreens, dodgy suspensions, worn our tyres, faulty bushes etc on our potholed and road shoulder deprived roads that do not afford the luxury of safe control of the vehicle to the driver meaning that walking on the road or very close to the road is dicing with danger.

Pedestrians need to keep away from the roads however irresistable the temptation because it just takes a swerve, a veer, a bump, a carelessly overtaking vehicle approaching on the wrong side for one to be dispatched to the next world. If for nothing else do it to show our children how to be safe on our roads!!