To stop road mess, change driving culture

The behaviour of drivers in Kenya has sunk so low that the bizarre has begun to look normal. Overlapping, cutting in, blocking traffic, driving on sidewalks, picking up and dropping off passengers anywhere has become the norm, making driving difficult and dangerous. It should not be so.

We have seen situations where a simple barrier ahead slows down traffic and suddenly, motorists overlap and generate a second lane, even a third one, blocking all oncoming traffic and occasioning traffic lockups. So motorists helplessly sit there for hours as if expecting some miracle.

I have observed this on the Thika-Sagana road, Nairobi-Nakuru and Mombasa roads. On one-way roads such as Thika road and Waiyaki Way in Nairobi, impunity-seized drivers even cross over to the other side of the highways and drive against oncoming traffic. Jams that would otherwise take just a few minutes to open up have at times trapped people overnight.

Clogged roads have become so commonplace that taking two hours or more to get to the office is now routine. Many people in Nairobi spend upwards of three hours of their productive time on the road — a big national loss. Some have tried beating the problem by waking up very early.

Besides being unhealthy and insecure, this undermines personal production and in the long term, is not smart or sustainable.

Yes, vehicle numbers have tremendously increased. However, poor driver culture compounds traffic lock-ups. There are other contributory aspects such as road infrastructure. Roundabouts aggravate jams. Unfortunately, the police do not help matters by trying to become substitute traffic lights.

Then the bumps! Besides being too many, their design literally stops and ruins cars, slowing down traffic and promoting jams. Thika, Nakuru, and Mombasa roads on weekends and during public holidays are notorious for traffic build-up on account of poorly designed bumps and rumble strips. Fewer and smoother bumps would do.

IMPROVE INSPECTION PROCESS

The proposed annual and bi-annual inspection of commercial and private vehicles will not cure our road mess. Besides taking working time and financial resources from many motorists, the requirement will play right into the hands of corrupt police and inspection unit officials. They will just up informal rent and provide back route stickers.

It might be more worthwhile to spend resources to improve the existing inspection process for commercial vehicles and introduce ad hoc inspections for suspect private ones.

The long-term solution to our roads is complex, but a complete culture shift by drivers and the police are vital. The obsession with overlapping and cutting in by both private and commercial vehicles across the country must be stopped.

Drivers must be made to understand that patience is golden and that their individual actions matter. Breaches must attract penalties. CCTV and mobile traffic marshals should be used to deter and punish errant drivers.

I once remember a London taxi driver who would not drop me right next to my hotel at midnight, yet the roads were clear. He told me, “This isn’t a designated drop zone. The cameras buddy! They’re recording”. Appropriate use of these facilities by the police would help. Remember, the Transport minister John Michuki got many motorists to shape up in under a month.

Other solutions include well-located bypasses, good road design, containing speeding and drunken driving and dissuading use of mobile phones through innovative media programmes. Let us face it, many countries and cities with many more vehicles than we do have effectively managed their traffic. We too can. It is all about our culture, infrastructure, and processes.

Mr Mwathane is a surveyor. [email protected]. @mwathane