In the event you ever pitch rides in automobiles that belong to worldwide organizations working in Uganda, you’ll discover not less than two issues. The primary one is that many don’t transfer past 6.00pm particularly on the highways. If the time shouldn’t be sufficient to cowl the gap and be parked by 6.00pm, they reschedule to the following day. The second is that many drivers don’t often do speeds past 100kph. But a few of these automobiles are a few of the strongest on the highway — V8 or V6 engines and introduced in model new. Not the standard finish of life automobile we gladly import from Japan.
The explanation they insist on their automobiles shifting throughout day is essentially for security causes. No matter how trendy the automobile headlights get, there may be higher visibility throughout the day which allows the driving force to make knowledgeable selections quick.
It’s extra prone to discover a drained driver throughout the night time than throughout daytime. The belief is that the driving force would have had sufficient relaxation throughout the night time to drive fastidiously throughout the day. At night time is while you discover a loopy driver that has determined to do a return journey from Arua to Kampala on the identical day.
Driving inebriated is extra widespread throughout the night time than throughout the day. Many individuals who drink alcohol don’t accomplish that throughout the day. However within the night, they seize a bottle or a number of after which they sit behind the steering and drive, generally very lengthy distances.
Additionally at night time, there isn’t any visitors police on the highway to warn or wonderful drivers breaking visitors guidelines. It is likely one of the causes automobiles particularly vans which might be in harmful mechanical situations (DMC) or these which might be wrongly loaded have a tendency to maneuver at night time. Other than a police patrol automobile stopping them often, they make their journeys unrestricted.
Many such vans breakdown on the roads and don’t present sufficient warning for different highway customers. Likelihood is increased to ram right into a stationary automobile at night time than throughout the day.
Do highway accidents happen throughout the day? Completely. However it’s approach safer to journey throughout the day in Uganda than at night time. Even should you put highway accidents apart, it’s nonetheless safer to journey throughout the day as you may simply get assist ought to you’ve a mechanical difficulty to take care of. Thugs that stage unlawful highway blocks additionally accomplish that throughout the night time.
After all, authorities shouldn’t regulate the time once we can journey on the highways however we may be taught a factor or two from worldwide organizations and why they insist that their automobiles and employees ought to solely transfer throughout daytime. They’re attempting to scale back the potential of avoidable highway accidents and different incidents that might put their employees in peril.
Highway accidents are at all times within the information both when many individuals die in a single highway incident or when a outstanding individual dies in a single similar to businessman Apollo Nyegamehe popularly often known as Aponye did two weeks in the past. It’s not clear what precisely brought on the accident that claimed his life however what we all know thus far is that he was touring at night time and his automobile rammed right into a stationary truck.
Though the federal government could not legislate the time we must be shifting, it may make roads safer. The mannequin getting used on the Entebbe Expressway may very well be deployed on all of the highways or not less than on the busiest ones.
This may be completed by reinstituting highway tolls. So each highway consumer pays a payment and the cash is used to take care of the highway and most significantly clearing it of any obstacles that might result in accidents in addition to serving to these concerned in accidents.
A non-public competent firm can be employed to offer a highway security service. As soon as a automobile will get a mechanical downside or runs out of gas (like most automobiles in Uganda do), a tow truck would arrive in time to get it off the highway to make sure that it doesn’t result in visitors delays and most significantly accidents. An ambulance would even be deployed to hurry these in want of medical consideration to close by well being services.
That will require a number of tow vans and ambulances (together with a helicopter ambulance) deployed each predetermined distance for them to be efficient. The place the necessity could require heavy lifting cranes, the corporate managing the freeway would be capable of put measures in place for drivers to make use of the highway fastidiously till the impediment has been cleared. The corporate would additionally keep highway signage and such different furnishings.
This might not finish all highway accidents however not less than it could cut back the carnage on our highways and make them safer than they’re right this moment.
The author is a communication and visibility guide. djjuuko@gmail.com
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