Editor,

Allow me to express my opinion about the situation on our roads.

Let me start with the size which is so small that many would agree with me that once the Kigali Bus Service (KBS) company buses stop to drop off people no other car can overtake it. Equally interesting is when a car breaks down in the middle of the road and can’t be pushed on the side because the side walk is high up.

Also interesting is when a traffic police stops a car in the middle of the road and there is no pull over. Equally bizarre is when you have to turn off to the left and on-coming  traffic will not give way because of right of way. 

What are the solutions to these problems?

First, we need to construct bus stops big enough that if these buses stop to drop off people, they allow traffic to flow smoothly. In case this is not possible, let us only allow only coaster bus sizes or below to operate on our roads.

The second solution requires investing in education of our traffic officers not to stop cars in the middle of the road, unless it is a matter of life and death or for such stops to be done in a place where the road is wide enough for pull over.

The third but not the least is to borrow a leaf from other countries and start to use four or three way stop. I believe that if we employ these measures it will to a certain extent decongest our roads especially during morning and evening hours when traffic is at the peak.

Manzi Ntwali