Blogging Challenge Part 4 | Day 08 : Traffic Accident

It's a jungle out there on the roads and I low-key(high-key) fear for my life each time I leave the house. Most drivers and riders are reckless and care less about the next road user. It's so bad that I've never considered learning how to drive because i never want to drive in this reckless town. Everyone's always in a hurry and think they have the right of way. Everyday I see one form of nuisance or the other so I try not to go out if I don't have to.

You literally would be walking or standing on the pedestrian pavement and a car or tricycle would hit you and then cuss you out for being in 'their' way. If you've been in this place long enough, you should know better than to stand behind a parked vehicle because it could reverse into you at any time. They never use their rearview mirror anyway and even if they do, they would intentionally hit you for being in the way.

Nigerians know how to complain about the government like it's the sole brunt of their problem when in reality, they're really shitty people. The average Nigerian is so vile at heart, it really is disgusting. Why would a sane person intentionally drive into someone? This has happened to me so many times and it really is traumatizing.

There are barely any zebra crossings and the drivers don't acknowledge the few available. We never use the crossings because that would be suicide. It really irks me that even when school kids need to cross the road, no one ever slows down and let them cross. Just the other day I saw a man with crutches crossing a road, the road was clear and the only car in view was still quite a distance away, enough to slow down. The asshole didn't slow down, hit this man bad and he crashed to the floor.

Some months ago a tricycle rider climbed my foot with his front tyre, looked me dead in the eyes and rode off because I asked for my change. That's how wicked the average Nigerian is.

When crossing the one lane roads, you have to make sure to look left and right each time because there's definitely a mad person driving on the wrong side of traffic, ready to hit you. Years ago my mum almost lost a leg in an accident caused by crazy driving by mad people like this. It took months to heal and she had to use crutches all through.

Surprisingly, I remain calm in frightening situations like traffic accidents. It's always been an 'almost' accident case and my mind switches to being alert when everyone else is shutting their eyes and screaming 'the blood of Jesus'. Screaming doesn't help anyway and I'd rather stare death in the eyes than close my eyes.

The last accident I was in, I sat at the front of the tricycle with the rider and he stopped in the middle of the road when he saw policemen. He asked me to go down because he wasn't supposed to carry a passenger at the front and I never knew that. I was going down and he kept moving at the same time. I tried swinging to the back seat while holding on tight to the tricycle so I don't fall off because the idiot was still moving and the woman at the back pushed me off. Luckily, I landed on my feet but I was right in the middle of incoming traffic. Thank God I wasn't hit that day.

I later got into another tricycle and when I got to a stop, the first rider was waiting there and apologized for doing that to me. I had nothing to say because I was shaken and I could feel pains from the impact from the landing.

Recounting it now, I don't feel like going out today anymore.

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