Go slow on our potholed  roads this festive season

The unrelenting quest for safety may be my undoing one of these days. There is a transport company famed for its safety record and so when I travel on that route, they are my default choice. 

On this, as on other occasions, I went for the safe choice and all seemed to be well until about halfway into the journey when my safe option developed mechanical problems. Out we filed, to escape the heat of the vehicle interior and for other reasons soon to be unveiled. See, our vehicle broke down on a particularly narrow stretch of tarmac, having likely hit some large and obnoxious hump or random pothole, I could not tell which one. 

Once we had ground to a halt, all the action began. Big cars, small cars, buses and lorries sped past us at a terrific speed, few of them slowing down long enough to spare a thought for random pedestrians and possibly mechanics who might be crossing the road. 

Our own big vehicle shook as gusts of wind from departing motorcars slapped us about. The safety-seeker in me decided to get off the road and delve into the surrounding greenery, which was mostly ant-filled shrubbery or bushes lined with bee-hives and the menacing prospect of being stung. 
That was the choice; stick by the road and be mowed down by some speeding Tom or Nancy or run for the bushes and whatever lay beyond. There was mention of elephants. That is what the line of bee-hives was for, apparently to keep the elephants from crossing over from wherever they like to hang out, which was supposedly nearby.

For what felt like hours on end and possibly out of sheer boredom, I literally began to count speeding cars. In any case, one could hardly be expected to read a book or listen to soothing music while preoccupied with swatting away a colony of ants. 
What I saw during that long period of staring at the road convinced me that we ought to say more prayers for ourselves and for others on the road because there is a lot of recklessness on our highways. People drive as if their cars are not designed to slow down and they can only see two metres ahead. 

The more I watched, the more afraid I became that we were going to witness a road accident in that very spot that afternoon. I still think it is a miracle we did not. 
In much the same way, I believe it is a miracle that we haven’t had scores of drastic or fatal incidents on those long stretches of potholed highway where heavy vehicles swerve and sink into potholes, sometimes perilously close to river bridges. 

When the roads, local government and urban authorities drive over these, what are they thinking?
Since we are too close to Christmas and it’s probably too late in the year to do anything about the potholes, I urge you to drive carefully over those potholed sections. 
Those who travel home via potholed roads, you know who you are. Don’t be like the driver who picked us up after our vehicle broke down. 

Now, beggars cannot be choosers but this driver was really a piece of speeding art. It is rare that someone hits a pothole or rides over a hump and the passengers literally hit the roof. This, however, is what this guy did over and over. 
Were we not in the middle of nowhere, I could have easily asked to alight before my fear of landing in some roadside ravine was realised.  

Ms Nampewo is a writer, editor and communications consultant     
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