Passengers Have A Right To Report A Reckless, Rude Driver

MOST of us are familiar with the daring speed of the drivers of coaches and buses that have dominated the public transport sector in Uganda. These, especially Isuzu coaches, often driven by people chewing, mairungi herbs, are known to cover distances which would have been covered in hours, within minutes. The drivers do not respect humps. They will overtake other vehicles anywhere and if you do not give way, they will use their horns indecently and may push you off the road. They have also been involved in a number of accidents.To check this kind of phenomena, the authorities devised route charts for these buses. The chart indicates the route the bus must take, at what time it should leave one point, and when it should be at the required destination. If a bus arrives at a particular point before the prescribed time, it will have broken the regulations, and the driver risks his license being cancelled. The receiving bus park authorities are not supposed to let the bus in. This is aimed at increasing road safety and is a legal requirement.Sec 74 of the traffic and road safety Act 1998 states: (1) subject to the provision of this Act, a public omnibus and country taxicab operators license shall authorise the holder of the licence:(a) to run a service for the carriage of passengers over such fixed route or routes as the board may direct;(b) to run a scheduled service over such routes at such frequency and regularity as the board may direct and(c) to incorporate such intermediate stops on any route as the board may direct.The license issued to these bus operators includes a contract between the operator and the transport licensing board and the board has powers to cancel the contract if the operator violates its terms. This board, established under section 62 of the Act, includes a chairperson appointed by the Minster, the Inspector General of Police or his/ her representative, the Chairperson, national road safety council, the solicitor general or his/her representative, two representatives of the travel industry, a representative of the motor industry and the director of transport in the ministry responsible for transport.So if you are a passenger in one of these buses and you detect that the driver is “driving you crazy,” i.e stopping at every stage to load passengers, you have a right to ask the driver to show you his route chart and if he is violating it, put him to task and report him/her to the authorities.Ends