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Mechanical Pitfalls: What to avoid while driving in Uganda

The Ugandan government is not happy with the shabby attitude exhibited by many wanainchi in the form of irresponsible wastewater and rubbish disposal.

MM's What to avoid while driving in Uganda:

You should avoid driving at night, due to the large amount of people driving with the bright lights on possibly causing blindness, also there are elusive pot holes that appear and disappear (may or may be not causing accidents), vehicles without any lights, and vehicles with lights but the person had been drinking and traveling in your lane.

You should avoid while driving taxis, because they have no problems on cutting into your lane from any direction with no worries on any damage that they may cause to your auto. (recommend front and rear metal guards for any auto that cover the lights).

You should avoid while driving boda bodas, these guys think that they are invincible and whip in and out of traffic asking to become an accident.  Beware especially at intersections as they go against traffic.

You should avoid while driving driving women, (my wife drives me, my only complaint - too slow, but very careful) if you want to get somewhere slowly ride behind one, and beware if she is talking on a Mobile, attempting make-up, or any other thing that takes her attention.

Unfortunately Uganda is not the only country previlaged to cheating machanics.  It happens everywhere especially when the machanics see a woman pull into their garage they starting seeing dollars because they know a woman in not as savy about vehicles as men are.   Cheating unsuspected drivers is global.  Some countries have some laws to protect car owners especially if the break job was performed.  What Ugandan govt needs to do is to put some laws on the books to protect the public and allocate the resources to enforce the law.

You can never pay me enough to drive in Kampala, maybe I could try in the other towns, but not Kampala.

Thanks for the article

LOL -  a big thank you to Mrs M_M for keeping M_M in line!!! 

Thanks for the article - it helps to remain alert to what's going down - and yes QS you are correct.  Its a natural law that all mechanics around the globe will try it on. As for the laws which can avert such happenings - now that may be a tall order though not at all an idea to shelve.

What the article perhaps didn't alert us to are some of the cowboy vehicle rental companies out there too. Be sure to check that the vehicle has insurance and tax and where possible - do check the simple stuff out yourself on the car's servicing history. You'd be amazed to find yourself stuck with a car that gazzles up gas at a such a high rate simply because the existing spark plugs or even the oil filter haven't parted with the vehicle and the owners only too eager to tell you about the inflation rates!  Or even being given a vehicle which states its both manual and automatic with air conditioning only to find that the automatic bit refers to the driver's ability to go into auto-drive with the air conditioning relying on external weather patterns.  Lastly -if you must get the service done don't fall in the pitifall again of leaving it to the rental company to recommend "one of their own" - ask around from reputable sources/friends.

QS - I take two painkillers before I have to drive in Kla and tune my voice and hand gestures with the horn.  Rest of the time, I walk and avoid areas south of City Square where possible - preferrably in the early evenings.  Ironically muggings or purse snatchers operate more in the uptown areas of the city where its less crowded. My guess is that in the downtown areas, they know they will be skinned alive when caught, as the ratio of humans in this part of town is almost competing with the population sensors of Asia.