I agree completely: no use arguing with people with brains the size of a pea! Look after yourself.

Imagine what would have happened if another car suddenly appeared at the blind spot and you get caught up in an accident. It would have mattered less that you were right when you find yourselves in hospital.

I can’t tell you how many people have died in America after being hit by a car that has jumped a red light. Because their light was green they thought they had the right of way and all the other cars will stop at the red light.

When dealing with rogue drivers, common sense rather traffic rules will prevent you from being caught up in an accident.

Indeed! There is hardly any gain in time, but the pea brains happily dice with death, for themselves and others.

Mr Pea Brain is certainly a ubiquitous creature: I only highlighted one but encountered a dozen like him on that trip.

Mocking them is one way of fighting them. We must make them feel small and ridiculous, not big and important.

A good observation. I have asked before: why were Kenyans in diaspora not engaged in tribal warfare in January 2008?

Why do Kenyans in Europe ensure all indicator lights and brake lights are working, but here see nothing wrong in driving at night without even headlights?

The answer is in rules and norms. Out there you can’t get away with anything like that, here you routinely can. Notice how even expats from Europe start driving like matatu drivers when they’ve been here a a year or two. People conform to the rules and norms of the society around them.

Rules are up to rule enforcers, who are the primary rule breakers in this country. But norms are down to each one of us.

Mr. Merc Pea Brain is quite a common character on our roads, when he is not driving recklessly you will notice him and his passengers throwing plastic bags, banana peels, plastic cup and bottles and the like out the windows, without regard to other motorists as well as the environment.
However, Mr. Pea Brain need not be a leader or a man of great social standing (well at least going by the definitions of these words) so how did he acquire his sleek car?
“That is a little-known fact in Kenya, with our culture of shoddy roads laid by shadowy contractors approved by shady officials” – driving blue Mercedes’ with the brain the size of a pea.

I thoroughly enjoyed your article.

An observation made over time; why is it that when we [non law abiding Kenyans] arrive in many a foreign land, we tend to quickly abide by the rules set there, and well in advance for that matter? Is it that the culture [or lack of it] that is responsible for this moronic behavior in the country we call our own? And who is suppose to enforce this culture when the custodians are equally admonishing it? No prizes for guessing, I guess!