Cars head towards Johannesburg October 28, 2006.
As I relaxed at home in Johannesburg the other night, the evening calm was shattered by the sound of screaming brakes. Then came a massive crash.
Police soon arrived, and the next morning we saw what had happened. At the end of our street, at a traffic roundabout, the brick wall of an apartment compound had been demolished. Inside was the car (surprisingly intact) that had smashed through the wall.
The wrecked wall was being watched by a security guard, who confirmed that a drunk driver was responsible.
The crash occurred at the exact spot where a young woman was killed by another speeding driver in 2007. The roundabout is named "Stef's Circle" in her memory, and a photo of her is tacked to a nearby tree. But even after warning signs were posted, the circle is still often littered with debris from traffic accidents.
South Africa has one of the world's highest rates of traffic fatalities, and alcohol is a key factor in 60 per cent of the crashes. More than 6,000 people a year are killed by drunk drivers in this country. By some estimates, one of every 15 drivers at night is drunk.
Yet the culture – among both whites and blacks – accepts it. There's little concept of a designated driver here. At the end of a party or a long evening of drinking, people totter off to their cars. Nobody would think of confiscating the ignition keys of their friends to protect them.
Living in South Africa sometimes feels like a prolonged episode of Mad Men. It's like a throwback to the 1950s or 1960s in North America, when drunk driving was casually accepted or laughed away as a bit of a naughty foible.
It can be shocking to hear the nonchalant acceptance of drunk driving here. Friends mention a great party and joke about how they can't remember driving home afterwards.
I've lived in countries with alcohol problems before. I spent seven years in Moscow, where vodka was the beverage of choice for any occasion. But at least Moscow had an extensive subway system, so that people could get home without driving.
South Africans are highly dependent on their cars. Even the biggest cities don't have much of a public transit system. And the public transit that does exist is mostly limited to the daytime hours. Taxis at night are rare and expensive. At the end of an evening, people can't really imagine an alternative to their cars.
Corruption and lax enforcement are also factors in the high rate of drunk driving. Those who are stopped by the police can often bribe their way out of the situation. One expat friend of mine, stopped by the police after a night of drinking, waved vaguely at a U.S. embassy building in the distance and said he worked there. He was let off with a warning.
A report on global road safety by the World Health Organization gave South Africa a dismal mark – two out of 10 – for its enforcement of drunk-driving laws.
Police campaigns against drunk driving are often launched, with little effect. One reason is the slowness of the justice system, which can take years to reach a conviction.
Nelson Mandela's great-granddaughter, 13-year-old Zenani, was killed by an allegedly drunk driver in 2010 as she returned home after a concert on the eve of the soccer World Cup. The driver's blood alcohol level was reported to be three times above the legal limit.
Yet more than 18 months later, the driver has still not faced trial. The case has been repeatedly postponed.
Another problem in South Africa is that breathalyzers are often not used by police – or not accepted by courts. Instead the police must take the suspect to a medical facility to obtain a blood sample, even if the suspect is reeking of alcohol. Backlogs at labs can mean that blood samples are not analyzed for months – or they can disappear, for the price of a bribe.
Over the past year or so, I've noticed the first signs that attitudes may be starting to shift. Some of my friends have begun using the services of new private companies that can be hired to meet you and drive you (and your car) home after a night of drinking.
But as the evidence at Stef's Circle shows, it will take many years before the drunk-driving epidemic begins to ease.
Geoffrey York