Today is one of those days. The bad news is weighing on me. This morning I read an article on News24 about a Health Department employee who drove (sped!) through a red light, hitting a car and killing a 2-year old girl strapped into her car seat. According to the article, the force of the impact catapulted the child out of her car seat and the car. Think about that for a moment.

The little girl died in hospital a short while later.

Her name is Shanelle Labuschagne and she was an only child. Her parents had struggled for 13 years to conceive. 13 Years. Now their little girl is dead. Killed by an idiot who thought it was ok to speed through a red light. The man was driving a Health Department minibus used for patient transport and an unknown number of passengers in the minibus were slightly injured.

South African drivers are generally a lawless bunch. As a non-driver, I am more familiar with the rules of the road than many drivers. Every day I see the egregious flouting of traffic rules. People seem to think the rules don’t apply to them. People die because of idiots who think they’re above the law.

I can’t even begin to imagine how Shanelle’s parents feel. Their pain. Oh God. I can barely think about it.