Learning the language of the road

By Dr Ian Clarke 

When we are driving in the midst of the chaos we call Kampala traffic, we have to watch all sides of the car in case a bodaboda is squeezing past on the inside, the outside or straight in front. 

This happens at the same time as we are negotiating for space with cars and trucks which are edging us out of our lane. 

It all takes a toll on our mental health, and should we hit a bodaboda, it is automatically our fault.

My son witnessed a vehicle speeding on the road followed by a hoard of bodabodas. The driver had obviously hit a bodaboda and tried to make his getaway, but they caught up with him and pulled him out of the car. Fortunately, the Police arrived in time to prevent a lynching. 

I try to keep calm when dealing with Kampala traffic by reminding myself that the bodaboda guys have never read the Highway Code, and so they do not know the rules they are supposed to keep. 

They are not breaking the rules maliciously; they just do not know what the rules are. A bodaboda guy sees absolutely nothing wrong with passing on the inside, and if a motorist turns left and hits him, it is the fault of the motorist. 

Possibly, the only rule bodaboda riders know is that traffic is supposed to move on the left-hand side of the road, but even this is flexible when the left side is occupied by slow-moving cars, and they can then move to the right side of the road. 

I believe that some bodaboda guys know that one should stop at a red light, because I have seen it with my own eyes, but if the road is clear, they know it is also okay to go through a red light.

Dr Ian Clarke 

Some of them also know that one should go clockwise round a roundabout, but if it is quicker to go anticlockwise, this is also acceptable — because if they were breaking the law, the Police would stop them, but they never do. 

The overarching principle that bodaboda riders are guided by is finding the quickest way through the traffic since this is why passengers hire them in the first place. 

Therefore, why are we blaming them? If bodabodas did not find their way through the traffic, they might as well be a vehicle with four wheels which is stuck in the traffic. 

The other principle that supersedes all rules is that one must be on constant lookout for any possible fares. So, if a bodaboda man spots a potential passenger on the other side of the road, he must make an immediate U-turn no matter the risk. 

This explains why bodaboda guys apparently wish to commit suicide in front of oncoming cars. Those who succeed (in not being killed) are rewarded with another fare, while those who fail do not live to warn their colleagues it was a bad idea. 

So, if you are the driver of a vehicle with four wheels, and you witness a bodaboda go round a roundabout in the anticlockwise direction, or squeeze past on the inside while scratching your car, or a bodaboda rider trying to commit suicide in front of your vehicle, you should accept that it is not their fault, because they are not using the same rules as you. 

You are getting stressed because you think they are wantonly breaking the Highway Code, but they do not even know the Highway Code and are governed by a completely different set of rules. 

To relieve your stress on the roads, what you need to understand is that most of the other road users, including the Police, have never read the Highway Code, so how can they break rules they do not know? If you grasp that bodabodas are guided by a few more important principles — like finding any gap through the traffic; getting a fare at any cost, and getting to their destination in the shortest possible time — you will be more sympathetic. 

If you are stressed by Kampala traffic, it is really your own fault because you have assumed that behaviour on the roads is governed by a common code, which is the same as assuming that we all speak English. 

For most people, this is simply not the case, and one needs to learn the language that others are using.