By JOE KIARIE
To most Kenyans, never-ending traffic jams have been a nuisance primarily because of the priceless hours wasted on the roads.
But health experts warn that the snarl-ups are a serious yet silent health hazard and could be partly behind the increasing cases of cancer and stress-related diseases in the country. The experts say perennial anxiety and frustration over traffic jams could also be occasioning broken relationships, lost jobs and making Kenya a worse off society.
Only in October, a BBC report ranked the gridlock in Nairobi among the top 10 in the world. But the problem is in reality not just limited to the capital city. Only last weekend, hundreds of passengers had to spend a night on the road following a major snarl-up along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway. The jam at the Gilgil Weighbridge stretched 15 kilometres on both sides of the road, lasting more than 10 hours and bringing transport to a total standstill.
Commuters to the coastal city of Mombasa were earlier this month also victims of a 12-hour gridlock at the Jomvu-Miritini area, a section that has in the recent past see many motorists spend nights behind the wheel.
While sitting in gridlocked traffic, motorists have been known to court road rage under provocation by counterparts who overlap, fail to give way, recklessly change lanes, or even relentlessly hoot.
Offensive gestures
In retaliation, most hurl obscenities, make offensive gestures and curse as they lecture their colleagues on how wanting their driving skills are. Others have even rammed into other cars or engaged in physical fights as tempers flare.
“It is baffling how individuals with no criminal records have been resulting to excessive violence under minimal provocation,” says Philip Odio, a psychologist at Mvuli Psychological Services in Nairobi.
Odio explains that road rage is not usually a reaction to traffic but rather the snarl-ups serve as a boiling point for underlying pressures.
“People, especially when late or stuck in traffic for so long, become very impatient, furious, and anxious when other motorists show disrespect by cutting in front of them, overlapping or even failing to give way,” he states.
The psychiatrist says this effect could eventually prove critical to motorists who have over the years let the agony of being stuck in traffic jams such as those along Mombasa Road, Jogoo Road and Waiyaki Way get the better of them.
“If you are constantly under a state of stress, there is a hormone called cortisol, which when released over a long period of time predisposes one to various forms of cancer and other stress-related diseases,” he cautions, noting that there is a strong link between stress and cancer.
Traffic gridlock
Odio says perennial traffic gridlocks have also been taking their toll on relationships and employment.
“While a considerable number of people result to alcohol consumption as they wait for the jam to clear, others reach home frustrated and pick up fights or refuse to talk to family members, having become short-tempered. This can in the long run easily lead to broken marriages.
“Others take the stress to the workplace where they release it on weaker colleagues, with bosses targeting their juniors. Such constant friction affects rapport and performance and might cost one a job at the end of the day,” he explains.
Odio says that if the traffic jam problem persists, road rage, aggressive driving and poor morals will be deeply rooted in society as an increasing number of children listen to their parents scream obscenities on the road.
“Most parents use traffic jams as a chance to insult everyone and utter words they would not use at any other place. At this point, there is usually little room for apologies and children believe this is normal. This will make a very bad society and we should be careful what we say during traffic,” he warns.
The psychiatrist’s fears could be qualified by the fact that a high number of parents in urban areas now drop and pick their children from school. Many other pupils use school vans or matatus, whose drivers are equally susceptible to road rage.
Only this week, CNN quoted Leon James, a professor of psychology and co-author of Road Rage and Aggressive Driving referring to the back seat of the car as the “road rage nursery”.
“It’s where kids hear their parents cursing out other drivers and expressing their disbelief about everyone else’s poor skills on the road. Children learn the culture of aggressive driving in this way, he opined.
Ben Ngari, a Nairobi resident, attests to this. He talks of a workmate he had always known to be extremely polite until they shared a ride to Nairobi.
“I rode in his car together with his neighbour and son. At some point we encountered a head of cattle crossing the road and he loudly shouted piteni haraka, ng’ombe nyinyi! (Cross fast, you cows). We all laughed,” he says. But Ngari says it was not a laughing matter minutes later when his friend irately fired back obscenities while sticking out the middle finger to a matatu driver who recklessly cut in front of him. “It went on for a while and only his young son seemed to enjoy what was happening,” he recounts.
Untold anguish
Motorists Association of Kenya chairman Peter Murima says motorists have suffered untold anguish in traffic jams, leading to ‘understandable’ altercations as a result of frustration.
“We have seen many people miss crucial appointments and even flights due to traffic snarl ups. It is very provocative when someone tries to overtake or overlap during such moments,” he says.
Murima says PSV crews have been at the centre of the exchanges due to their constant disregard for the law but admits some reactions are above the top.
“I have seen drivers angrily confront fellow motorists with rungus or wheel spanners while others smash cars out of road rage. We should try to be a bit courteous and avoid overreacting to provocation,” he advises.
One recommended solution to contain road rage is that one should just ignore offending drivers since chances of meeting them again in traffic are almost zero. But Odio says this is easier said than done.
“Men particularly like competition and power games. To maintain their pride, it is rare that one will just smile or stare at an offensive driver and leave there. This has encouraged road rage,” the psychologist explains.
And while most motorists try to avoid the gridlock headache by conversing or texting on their cell phones and reading newspapers, a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, shows that using a cell phone for instance results in a high number of costly and potentially fatal driving errors. It proposes conversing with passengers as a better solution.
