City traffic is a nightmare
Jun 05, 2005
SIR — Driving in Kampala is a nightmare, considering the way drivers behave. You could imagine we have a million cars in the city.
SIR — Driving in Kampala is a nightmare, considering the way drivers behave. You could imagine we have a million cars in the city. Traffic jams are all over the place and yet we have a few thousand cars in the country. Our political past has really affected everyone here. There are two categories of bad road- users in Kampala who must be checked and disciplined, otherwise traffic jams are just beginning!
The first and most notorious are taxi drivers. These are the most indisciplined and I am told most of them take drugs. They keep no traffic rule, since they are ever communicating with their colleagues where policemen could be located. They never keep to one lane, insult other drivers, especially women and bang people’s cars with their fists and are always hooting. They have no respect for traffic signs and stop for passengers without a care about other road users blocked behind. Then there are boda boda men. they are a real nuisance. They can swing their motorcycles from any side of the road and have no respect for anybody else. You find them riding on pavements or conversing while riding at a snail’s speed. They scratch cars as they try manoeuvring through the jam. If one rides and abruptly stops in front of you and happens to be knocked a bit, he will park his motorcycle in front of your car and demand payment! Or he will go for a traffic policeman who will not listen to you. I call them politicians because they have a power base!
Joseph Pamba
Kampala
The first and most notorious are taxi drivers. These are the most indisciplined and I am told most of them take drugs. They keep no traffic rule, since they are ever communicating with their colleagues where policemen could be located. They never keep to one lane, insult other drivers, especially women and bang people’s cars with their fists and are always hooting. They have no respect for traffic signs and stop for passengers without a care about other road users blocked behind. Then there are boda boda men. they are a real nuisance. They can swing their motorcycles from any side of the road and have no respect for anybody else. You find them riding on pavements or conversing while riding at a snail’s speed. They scratch cars as they try manoeuvring through the jam. If one rides and abruptly stops in front of you and happens to be knocked a bit, he will park his motorcycle in front of your car and demand payment! Or he will go for a traffic policeman who will not listen to you. I call them politicians because they have a power base!
Joseph Pamba
Kampala