You should always wear a seat belt and make sure the other passengers do as well.
Your defensive driving mode should be on all the time – expect the unexpected!
The catch phrase is ‘don’t drink and drive’. In many cases there are no gadgets to even taste the alcohol limit and therefore no limits but left to the judgment of the traffic officer – You don’t want to take such a risk, do you? You could run out of luck.
The speed limit on highways in Uganda is 80km/hr. and 40km/hr in built up areas. You might not see the speed limit signs frequently in some places but take extra care because police strictly enforces this law and breaking speed limits can result in a fine, imprisonment or even both.
Don’t use your mobile phone whilst driving – this should be common sense!
Give way to the right especially if there are no traffic lights, stop signs and at T-junctions. Take extra care at the zebras for any pedestrians crossing and go around the roundabouts in the clockwise direction.
If you are involved in an accident, contact your insurer immediately and make sure you take pictures of the scene and the damage to your car.
Don’t overload your vehicle and ensure you can see out of the back window.
Don’t drive when you are tired – you can imagine it’s even more risky to try driving in Uganda in that state. Take regular breaks on long journeys or share the driving if one of your passengers can and is permitted to drive.
There could be more to this list but that should set you going about driving in Uganda without trouble.
You will realize that most of the cars in Uganda are rightt hand drive (RHD) and if you are used to the left hand drive (LHD) back in your country of origins, you might reach for your wipers rather than the indicators – funny, isn’t it! You will do quite a few of these as you get used.
And then who knows, 2/3 years down the road you could have grown into one of the best drivers in the world if not the worst!
An International driving permit is acceptable and can be used in Rwanda for only one year after which you should apply for a Rwandan driver license.
Third party is required