Michael Abrahams: The mean streets of Jamaica

Michael Abrahams, Gleaner columnist

A few years ago I visited Florida and spent eight days travelling between Ford Lauderdale and Orlando, making several stops and detours along the way. I had rented a car for the trip, and the 'GPS lady' must have grown tired of saying "recalculating" as I made many wrong turns and took several wrong exits off highways. The entire time that I was there, despite my navigational incompetence, not one other motorist blew their horn at me.

At the end of my vacation, however, I received a reality check. During the first hour of driving back home in Jamaica, I was honked at several times at traffic lights. It hit me that as the light changes from red to green, unless you have the reaction time of an Olympic sprinter, the horn section of fellow motorists becomes activated.

It is something that I knew all along, but had become desensitised to. Being off the island in a more disciplined society, and then returning home, however, helped me to put things in perspective. We really are an aggressive lot.

Driving around in Kingston, you will encounter arms flailing through open windows 'flashing off' other motorists, heads protruding with tongues spewing obscenities and motorists occasionally alighting from their vehicles to confront others who may have dissed them. And, of course, there are the minibus drivers who just stop 'braps' and pick up and drop off passengers anywhere they please, and their counterparts, the taxi drivers, who specialise in 'bad-driving' other road users.

I did not get the memo or must have missed the announcement in Parliament, but obeying traffic lights now appears to be optional. Red is now the new green, as motor vehicle operators break red lights with alarming regularity. The traffic light at Mona Preparatory School on Old Hope Road is a good example of this. It is not uncommon for motorists to zoom through the red light and across the pedestrian crossing as if they are competing in a Formula 1 race.

An even more fascinating observation that I have made regarding the antics on our streets is that the persons who are the least protected behave as though they are enveloped by titanium armour. Have you ever wondered why bicycle riders so often break red lights and stop signs, ride in the wrong direction on streets, often have no lights when they travel at night and, in general, behave like they own the roads? And why do so many motorbike riders feel the need to 'wheelie' and 'dilly-dally' in and out of traffic, often without wearing helmets?

And why does a country with an almost $2-trillion debt have so many expensive cars 'out a street'? BMW Xs abound on our thoroughfares. Some persons are wealthy and can afford them easily with no stress on their pockets, but some people will insist on driving an expensive SUV and live in a cardboard box. I don't get it. I know someone who does not have much money but insists on driving a BMW, and ended up buying what has got to be the smallest BMW I have ever seen, probably an X 1/4. It's all about the profiling.

The aggression, indiscipline and misplaced priorities seen on display in our streets mirror our attitudes as a people. But, in acknowledging the indiscipline and misplaced priorities of many of our leaders since Independence and the poor examples they have set, can we really expect any better from our citizens?

Michael Abrahams is a gynaecologist and obstetrician, comedian and poet. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or tweet @mikeyabrahams.