Why the Highway Code is not respected

The Highway Code states that a motorist should leave a good following distance when driving behind another car but it is common to find motorists driving bumper-to-bumper. PHOTO by Abubaker Lubowa

What you need to know:

While we have a law that governs road users, only a few drivers either know or follow the rules in the Highway Code. This explains the numerous mistakes on the road. Gillian Nantume spoke to experts and they explain why motorists do not follow the code and what should be done.

Uganda has a law that has to be followed by every road user. However, only a few motorists know the contents of the Highway Code which states how motorists should drive. The failure to abide by this has led to various mistakes.
John Okello narrates one such mistake. He says he was driving to Entebbe International Airport at 11pm. When they reached Kawuku (20 km from Kampala), they were almost blinded by very bright lights from the opposite direction.
“A taxi, parked on the opposite side of the road, was waiting for passengers. The driver had turned on the headlights to full beam and because I could not see, I was forced to park by the roadside.” Furious, John crossed the road and asked the taxi driver if he was aware that he was putting the life of other road users at risk.
“His reply shocked me. He asked me if I wanted him to drive with parking lights.”
Apparently, when he was learning how to drive, the taxi driver had been told that the first turn of the knob put on parking lights and the second turn, full beams. No one told him that the same knob has a provision for switching to dim lights. “He never learnt that you only use full beam when there are no cars coming from the opposite direction, for clear visibility. This is also one of the rules in the Highway Code.”

What the law says

The Highway Code states that a driver should not use lights in a way that will dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users, including pedestrians.
When a vehicle, cyclist, or pedestrian is approaching, the driver should turn the headlights to dim, after they have been able to see that a car is driving in their direction. At this point, the driver has to slow down as well because visibility will be reduced.

Lines in the road
Ronnie Fortune Matagala, a defensive driving trainer and senior instructor with Prestige Driving School, says: “When you see a continuous line in the middle of the road, it means that the driver must not cross to the other side of the road or overtake the vehicle in front of him,” he adds. “These lines are normally found in trading centres, sharp bends, and blind hills.” A dotted line in the middle of the road means that a driver can overtake or cross the road, only if it is safe.
“Many drivers just overtake not bothering to see if it is safe or not; as long as they see those broken lines and this has led to many accidents.”

Safe following distance
“The distance between two moving vehicles depends on the speed at which both are driving,” says Matagala. “On the highway, if you are driving between 100 and 180 kmph, you cannot be so close to the car ahead of you.”
Keeping an emergency stopping distance between two cars will ensure that the driver has visibility of the road ahead.
Matagala adds that when in traffic jam, “Just as long as you are able to see the tyres of the car in front of you that is a safe distance.”

Seatbelts
Lillian Kawombe had never liked to use seatbelts, even before she learnt how to drive. When she enrolled in a driving school, she categorically told the instructors not to bother her with tutorials on the importance of the seatbelt.
“When I went to the police for the driving test, I failed just because I had not used the seatbelt. I was instructed to return to the driving school for a week. I still refused to use the seatbelt.”
Two weeks later, Lillian was involved in a near fatal accident in Bakuli.
“I was driving so fast that I failed to stop by the red light. When the light went to amber, I increased the speed. I did not see the bus coming from Namirembe Road.”
Lillian was not wearing her seatbelt and when the collision took place, within a second she had flown out of the windshield onto the tarmac.
Without a seatbelt, upon impact, the airbag could not be inflated. Lillian survived, but she is scared for life. Every seat in a car is provided with a seatbelt, which means that every passenger is mandated by law to wear one.

Pedestrian walking
Many pedestrians as they walk on the road take it for granted that a driver knows what he is doing. They do not take into account the fact that the car, like any other machine, may have a fault. It might fail to brake.
“A pedestrian, when walking, should be on the side of the road where he is facing the oncoming cars,” says Matagala. “In case of failure of brakes or anything, he can see the car coming towards him and leap to safety.”
People also tend to think that because there is a zebra crossing in the road; cars will automatically stop for them to cross.
Matagala advises that, “The only controlled pedestrian crossing is at traffic lights, when the cars have to stop at the red light. Where there is a cross road without traffic lights, which is a mad intersection, people should be alert as they cross.”
A Zebra Crossing is not controlled, which is why, in most cases, one car stops and another driver may just drive on.

Who is responsible

Not only National Road Safety Council, under the Ministry of Works and Transport is mandated to print out and sensitise the public about the Highway Code, Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), as the body in-charge of road construction also has a contribution to make. If a good road is misused, it means that the company should teach road users about their safety.
David Muhwezi, a transport planner with UNRA, says “the main body mandated to do road sensitsation is the Ministry but we do spot sensitisations. Recently we worked with the Ministry to teach primary school children and groups of road users.”
He adds: “We do road safety audits on every newly-constructed road. If we feel that there are sections that are not safe for public usage, we request the contractor to redo these sections.”
“No new research has been conducted on highway use in Uganda,” says Tomusange. “We need evidence-based information to fight road carnage. This also means that road engineers are building our roads using outdated information.”
Muhwezi adds that a small component in the contract mandates the contractor to ensure that the public is sensitised about road usage. In most cases, they hire a consultant to do the job.”
On the whole, adhering to the Highway Code, and road safety, in general, requires a combined effort of both the government and the civil society. A multi-ministry approach is also needed, instead of the onus falling on only the Ministry of Works and Transport.
The Ministry of Health takes up a huge burden, in terms of treating those injured in road accidents and they also need to be visible in the sensitisation of the public on the Highway Code.

Challenges
Matagala says failure to adhere to the Highway Code is what causes most of the accidents on the road.
lack of access
“The Highway Code is essentially a guide for every road user, from driver, to pedestrians, and animals. It is only in a proper driving school that one can learn about the Code.
You cannot expect a taxi conductor who learnt how to drive at a washing bay or who drives only on Sundays to have proper driving skills.”
Unfortunately, those who learnt how to drive in proper driving schools, and those who were trained at washing bays, share the same roads.
Add to this fray bodaboda riders and the onus is on the well-trained driver to drive for their own safety and that of other road users.
Lack of awareness
Mable Nakitto Tomusange, executive director, Injury Control Center Uganda, says people are not aware of the existence of the Code.
“People need to be sensitised about what the Highway Code is about and what is required from different road users. I travel around in schools, teaching about road safety but you find that the children do not know about the Code. If children are ignorant, it means the adults do not know about it.”
Language barrier
Road users who cannot read English are at an additional disadvantage because the Code has not been translated into the local languages.
“The civil society has put a lot of effort in teaching the public about road usage, but the government needs to popularise the document,” says Tomusange.
“The critical population of bodaboda riders and taxi driver have been neglected. No one talks to them. All our efforts are going down the drain because government does not support us.”

Statistics

•Crashes
18,368 crashes reported, with 2,616 (14.2%) being fatal.
• Collisions
December ranked highest for total number of collisions and June showed the lowest number of total collision. This is attributed to the heavy traffic flow as people travel upcountry for end of year festivities.
•Fatal accidents
Kampala ranks highest for total number of fatal accidents, with 584 fatalities.
•Most affected
Pedestrians, motor cyclists, and passengers on motorcycles so far have the highest category of road users who have died in accidents, with 1,181, 641, and 256 respectively.