DR IAN CLARKE: Are Link Bus drivers trying to kill me?

Since my farm is in Kyenjojo District, I am constantly on the road between Kampala and Fort Portal. Sometimes I have a driver, but on many occasions I drive myself. I have been driving for many years and know that the roads of Uganda are dangerous so I am careful, and I also do not to drive at night unless it is an emergency. The road between Fort Portal and Kampala is of variable quality, with some good stretches and some parts that are potholed, but it is not as busy and dangerous as the Masaka Highway and therefore has fewer accidents.

Last week I was driving to the farm early in the morning when we met a Link Bus. This particular bus company has built modern bus depots in Kasese and Fort Portal; their buses are new and Link Bus is the preferred provider of transport between Kasese and Kampala. I once saw a documentary on CNN that featured Link Bus as a successful Ugandan business, so I have quite an admiration for them.

Of course when driving one is always wary of buses in general, since they travel at speed. Buses have powerful engines and are light compared to trucks so they can gain high speeds, but if a slower moving vehicle is in front of them they do not want to lose the momentum they have built. Hence they often bear down on that vehicle and give a loud blast of the horn to get it to move out of the way. This is a bit frightening for the motorist, but at least he has a choice to pull into the left and let the bus pass. However, oncoming traffic may not have that choice if a bus pulls out into their lane. A few months ago a ‘YY’ coach on the Jinja Road caused an accident when the driver pulled out to pass, but the oncoming vehicle could not get out of the way and in the process a pedestrian was killed, along with two other people.

Last week I met a Link Bus; the driver clearly saw me coming, but pulled out to pass, driving straight at me in my lane, leaving me to get off the road or have a head-on collision. The bus driver did not wish to brake and lose speed though he saw me coming in the opposite direction. He realized that he did not have enough time to pass before he hit me, but gambled that if he played ‘chicken’ I would get out of his way. Apart from this being atrocious road manners, it is very dangerous because sometimes there is nowhere to go. I managed to get off the road and lived to tell the tale, and although I was annoyed I would not have bothered to write about it in this column except that it happened again! A few days later when I was on my way back to Kampala, the same thing happened with another Link Bus. The driver clearly saw me coming but pulled out and came straight for me forcing me off the road.

I did not have the presence of mind to get the number of the buses so I don’t know if it was the same bus, but I suspect that all Link bus drivers have adopted this driving style. To have been pushed off the road once might have been a mistake that could be forgiven, but for it to happen twice by the same bus company was no mistake. Now I doubt that Link Bus are deliberately trying to kill me (unless there is some conspiracy that I don’t know about). Neither am I blaming management for this bad driving – unless they have incentivized their drivers to have as fast a turnaround time as possible. But I am pointing out that this is dangerous driving which appears to be systematic. So now that the management knows what is going on, it is their responsibility to put a stop to this style of driving before someone else gets killed.