Be careful when turning off the road

Most busy roads in and around Kampala have lanes clearly drawn out.
In ordinary speak; a lane guides the driver on which direction he should take, especially at junctions or traffic lights points.
Lanes are part of a roadway designated for use by a single line of vehicles, to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts.
In Kampala, lanes are visibly drawn out on a number of roads such as Jinja Road and Yusuf Lule Road around the Fairway Hotel traffic lights, among other roads.
You will find also other types of lanes such climbing lanes, especially on Mbarara-Masaka highway and Kampala-Jinja highway and turnoff points that are also drawn out to guide proper flow of traffic. However, many motorists tend to abuse the function of lanes either out of ignorance or disregard for traffic rules.
According to Charles Ssebambulidde, the Traffic Police Directorate spokesperson, many drivers have no idea about how to use these lanes and they not only become a danger to themselves but a risk to other road users. Many drivers, for instance, he says, will drive in the middle lane of let say Jinja Road traffic lights at the Electoral Commission yet they are turning off to join Yusuf Lule Road.
This, he says, presents a number of dangers that have the potential to cause fatal accidents.
Apart from traffic lights point lanes, many drivers become a menace at turn-off lanes such as the ones on Yusuf Lule Road and others on Jinja Road stretching through a number of points to Nakawa, Kampala.
Such lanes are designed and conveniently placed on the inside of the road to provide safer turning points for drivers.
“Some drivers are either ignorant or just disregard lanes. Many of them remember to indicate after they have reached the point from where they are turning off from while others will pull from the outside or the middle of the road to join turnoff lanes,” says Ssebambulidde.

Never attempt to turn
“If you find yourself in the middle lane you should never think of turning on either sides of the road [left or right],” he adds.
In there, he says, is the abuse of climbing lanes that are mostly designed for highway traffic.
Climbing lanes are designed in such a manner that they allow slower travel for large cars while giving way to the smooth and continuous flow of traffic for other cars that have no difficulty in climbing uphill.
Such lanes, according to Ssebambulidde are designed with a purpose and any abuse presents risks to other road users.
“If you abuse lanes, you will most likely cause traffic jam or at worst an accident,” he says.
Currently, Ssebambulidde says, Kampala has approximately 800,000 cars yet the roads are designed to accommodate only 150,000 vehicles.
This means, he says, Kampala has five times more cars than it is designed to hold thus it becomes paramount that discipline is observed.
“Some motorists drive on the shoulders in non-existing lanes that lead to nowhere. They cause more traffic jam instead,” Ssebambulidde says.

When turnoff points become dangerous

Initially, according to Peter Kaujju, the Kampala Capital City Authority spokesperson, some turnoff lanes on major roads within Kampala were created to avoid traffic confusion as well as acting as shortcuts to some destinations.
However, some have become dangerous, confusing and a cause of traffic jam, which Kaujju has said led to some being blocked.
“We realised that traffic on some of these turnoff points was obstructive. We have blocked some of them and created others in points that have less traffic,” he says.