Death trap: Street racers turn wet Malawi road into a racetrack

Cars racing at speed on a rain-soaked dual carriageway at night, with spectators standing on the tarmac just metres from the traffic: a video of street racing in Malawi shows drivers gambling with their lives, and with the lives of everyone else on the road.

The clip, published on Malawi24’s YouTube channel, shows the road shining under streetlights as rain falls. Onlookers line the lanes, some filming on their phones, as vehicles speed past them.

Racing on a public road is dangerous at the best of times. In the wet it is worse: braking distances grow, tyres lose grip and a car that skids at speed has nowhere to go but into another vehicle, a pole or the crowd standing beside it.

Reckless and dangerous driving are offences under Malawi’s Road Traffic Act, and speeding remains one of the leading causes of road crashes in the country, according to police and the Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services (DRTSS).

So far there is no sign that police or road traffic officers have caught up with the racers.

Have you seen street racing in your area? Tell us in the comments or via email: [email protected]