Ugandan Road Hierarchy

(in increasing order of importance)

Pedestrians - Lowest of the low. Step onto road at your own peril. Even if you are halfway across, whatever is approaching you at top speed has the right of way.

Bicycles – Low. Must give way to everything except a pedestrian, including flinging self and bicycle into bushes on the side of the road to avoid impact.

Boda-Boda – Actually 2 designations. Lowest of all motorized vehicles. Highest of all non-motorized users. Will actively run pedestrians off paths, leap unbidden between rows of traffic, run the wrong way on the streets, use sidewalks instead of roads, carry treacherously wide loads of sugar cane, swerve endlessly directly at the mzungo (foreigner) from any direction to offer a ride.

Cars – Medium. Have to be vigilant for bigger vehicles.

Trucks/Matatu (small buses). Medium-high. By dint of their heavy exhaust and slow uphill speeds they can cause road chaos behind them.

Big Buses. High. These vehicles go at high speeds wherever and whenever they want to, including passing up hills, around curves, when there is no room, when there is oncoming traffic, forcing everyone else below them on the hierarchy to GET-OUT-OF-THE-WAY.

Chickens. Highest. Will bring even the biggest buses to a halt to give the poor chickens time to get across the road.