It used to be that when you encountered a BMW on the road, you knew what to expect. In fact, I was guilty of this myself, when I owned my E90 323i.
Someone in the overtaking lane (referred to in South Africa alone as the “fast lane”) is doing the speed limit, I’d creep up as closely as I could until they felt intimidated enough to move aside — after all, it’s my prerogative to drive over the speed limit, who the hell are you to enforce the national laws on me?
This was immature thinking, I know, because the opposite was never true — if I was in the ‘fast lane’ in my Beemer, there was no way I was moving over for anyone.
But things have changed... both in terms of my maturity behind the wheel, and the behaviour of a new driving menace.
On a recent road trip to the Southern Cape, I noticed that it’s no longer BMW drivers that are the menaces of the roadways — it’s Toyota Hilux drivers.
And more specifically, the eighth generation Hilux first introduced around 2015/16 and its subsequent 2017, 2020, and 2024 face-lifts.
Driving behind a convoy four Hiluxes deep along the N2 between Swellendam and Riversdale, I found myself immensely frustrated as the convoy of holidaymakers fluctuated between 80km/h and 110km/h on the national road, driving so closely behind each other so as to make overtaking one at a time impossible.
I refer to my earlier mention of my increased maturity level behind the wheel — there was no way I was going to attempt a bold four-car overtake, no matter the clear visibility and open lanes (not that there was much clear visibility beyond their massive, fully loaded aluminium canopies with rooftop tents and bicycles stacked behind).
What frustrated me further was when the opportunity presented itself for these four Hiluxes of the Apocalypse to move over with the introduction of a dual-lane overtaking section, they chose to spread themselves evenly across the lanes, or overtook other slower vehicles pulling trailers or caravans without increasing their own speed.
Or along the stretch of dual-carriage highway between Mossel Bay and George, where Hilux drivers (not the same four as before) remained stoically in the right-hand lane, doing little more than 90km/h, holding up traffic while others trying to reach Plettenberg Bay before nightfall were forced to engage in dodgy overtaking manoeuvres on the left.
The corollary of this I also found to be true. While doing 120km/h comfortably in the Mazda CX-60 Takumi I had on loan, it was always a Hilux, never a BMW, creeping up my backside to the point where I could see the whites of the driver’s eyes until it was safe enough for me to ease into the shoulder to allow them to overtake me.
In Knysna and Plettenberg Bay, even they way they park seemed to have an air of inconsideration about it — on, or over the lines designating the parking bays; halfway on top of kerbs with red lines beside them; blocking accessibility ramps that lead up to the pedestrian walkways at shopping centres; parking in bays designated for the otherly-abled or parents with young tots; or refusing to move while blocking traffic outside the shops because ‘I’m just waiting for someone’....
It should be noted that none of the drivers of other double-cabs I encountered on our little getaway behaved like this.
I’m not sure what it is about the eighth-generation Hilux that causes its owners to drive and behave like this. Maybe it’s the increased dimensions? The more aggressive grille? The raised ride height? Or perhaps the fact that they’re hijacked so often it makes their owners paranoid so they end up driving it like they stole it...
Whatever the case may be, the Hilux drivers are today the menace BMW drivers were in the past.
* Lance Witten is the Editor of IOL.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.