Bullying on the road and what to do about it

Bullying on the road is exhibited by motorists in different ways. If you are the kind who is short tempered, your reaction, if quick, could end up causing accidents on the road.

Using indicators endlessly
Darius Mwine, a motorist, notes that for the more than 10 years he has been driving, he has observed that there are motorists who deliberately turn on their indicators and do not endeavour to turn them off even when they are not turning. These kinds of motorists mostly turn on the right indicators, especially on highways.
“The reason some motorists turn and leave their indicators on is because they do not want to be overtaken. They do not only block your sight from seeing what is happening on the oncoming traffic direction but they also give you no room to react safely in case there is possibility of an accident ahead of you,” Mwine explains.

Do not overtake immediately
“Do not try to overtake if you do not have a clear view of the road ahead. The best way to safeguard yourself as you drive behind a motorist who leaves their indicator on is to create a reasonable amount of space between your car and theirs so that in case their behaviour causes an accident, you are not part of it,” Mwine adds.
This defensive mechanism can also be used as you drive behind motorists whose indicating is undecided. This is because there are those who turn indicators into toys of sorts. They may indicate left and never turn and in less than a minute, they indicate right and do not also turn, thereby leaving you in a confused state.

Loud and sharp hooting
Ian Kasozi, a motorist and tourist driver in Naalya, says bullying on the road also includes truck or bus drivers whose vehicles have loud and sharp hoots. They are in most cases fast and when they hoot at you simply because you are driving a small car, you can easily skid off the road.
“When another road user hoots at me loudly as I drive, I give them way so that they do not ram into my car. I find it safer that way instead of increasing my driving speed,” Kasozi says.

Pushing you off the road
This kind of bullying happens mostly along town, urban or city areas during rush hours in the morning and evening. What happens is that when there is traffic jam or slow moving traffic, some motorists will drive on the shoulders of the road. When they reach ahead and the road shoulder ends, they rejoin the road by tactfully pushing you out of your lane.
Charles Ssebambulidde, the traffic directorate spokesperson, observes that the kinds of motorists who drive on road shoulders are mostly taxi drivers who carry unpaid penalty receipts. In case of anything they did not expect, they abandon the car and run away. They at times go into panic mode and end up causing avoidable accidents the moment they sight a traffic personnel ahead of them.
“Driving on the road shoulders is by law not allowed and it is considered a traffic offence and punishable. If a motorist driving on the shoulder is not patient to wait for enough space to rejoin the road and they scratch your car, you are at liberty of writing down their number plate and reporting them to the nearest police station for penalisation and incurring costs of repairing your car,” Ssebambulidde advises.
“As a right thinking motorist, do not struggle for space on the road with shoulder driving motorists much as they have no right of way when they want to rejoin the road. As a directorate, we use Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras and look for such motorists later for penalising,” Ssebambulidde adds.

Driving in the middle of the road
Being bullied on the road also exists among some motorists by driving in the middle of the road. It happens along highways and is mostly done by slow moving trucks. With the biggest number of roads in Uganda comprising two lanes (oncoming and outgoing traffic), these trucks sometimes, for unknown reasons, drive with one side of the truck on the outgoing traffic side and the other part of the vehicle on the oncoming traffic side, yet Ugandan roads, by nature, are narrow.
Like motorists who drive and leave their indicators on deliberately to avoid being overtaken, Ssebambulidde advises that you should not react by overtaking from the little space left on the right. This is because you might skid off the road and your car overturns, thereby losing life, but the one driving in the middle of the road may also insanely decide to drive back to the left lane and leave you caught up in a head-on collision with a vehicle from the oncoming traffic direction that you were not able to see.
“Be patient until you can view the road ahead of you and then overtake safely,” he advises.

What to do if bullied on the road

Stay calm
When you find yourself face-to-face with an angry driver, your best bet to get out of the situation safely is by keeping your temper and panic at arm’s length and stay calm.
Do not allow yourself to be provoked, even if the offender shouts abuse and performs rude gestures. If possible, try to apologise or raise your hand in an apologetic manner to diffuse the tension. It does not matter whose fault it was, if the other driver has stooped to harassing you on the road, he or she is already beyond rational thoughts.
Do not leave your car
Your car is the safest place to be in, no matter how frightful the offender might look like. Keep your doors locked and do not worsen the situation by retaliating to the other driver. Eventually the offender will tire and drive away, or if things start to go on a downward spiral and you feel physically threatened, call for help immediately.
Write details
Take down the offender’s vehicle registration number, vehicle make and model, a picture, and even a video if you can. This is where a dash cam can come in handy, as it can record the entire incident and you can use it as evidence. Once you have taken down everything you need to lodge a police report, drive away or call for help if the offender attempts to block your way.
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