Over a year ago, we installed the Pressure Pro system on two of our training vehicles. It makes sense to have good safety measures for the vehicles that we use the most for our defensive and security driver training.

An early warning of an under inflated tyre is good for safety by avoiding a blow out or a tyre rolling off the rim; which, in both cases, could lead to a roll-over and possible student injury. Let alone the cost of replacing the tyre or the vehicle for that matter.

We have the intention of fitting them to all our training vehicles but first wanted to see how they would perform and cope with the demands of one of the toughest off road training courses available.

The Results

Well, they’ve been drowned in water, bogged down in mud, subjected to a very dusty environment and have been washed down at the end of every training session and not even given one sign of giving up the ghost. To say I’m impressed is an understatement.

I really expected the sensors to have given up by now considering the electronics that are packed into that small cap.

For those of you who do not know the system; a sensor is fitted on each tyre valve which sends a radio signal to the monitor. At any time you can scroll through your pressures (including the spare) and also, the unit will tell you when the pressure has gone below a certain limit by giving an audible warning.

Fitting /Tech Support

The system is relatively easy to install and doesn’t really require any tools to fit. You can hard wire it in if you like or just plug it into the cigarette lighter. Therefore, you can take it from one vehicle to another. I installed both our systems within 20 minutes.

The instruction leaflet that comes with it is comprehensive and the tech support that we got from the company was great.

Is it Worth it?

At around 500 US$ a pop (for the display monitor and 6 sensors) the system may seem to be relatively expensive but once you’ve considered the safety aspect and the saving on tyre wear/ replacement it’s not bad at all.

I would certainly recommend the system to anyone; from the private 2wd owner to the corporate semi trailer.

January the 16th 2009 will be a date remembered by all OnCourse staff. Two of the team lost their lives to a tragic Road Traffic Collision.

Ronald Kato and Wilfred Tamale had finished work and were on their way home and going to the market /get a hair cut respectively.

They reached the Kitende junction on Entebbe Road and as they were entering, the bicycle they were riding was hit by a 4wd vehicle. Kato was killed instantly and Wilfred died later that evening, in Nsambia hospital, of head injuries.

Our thanks go out to the hospital staff for trying their best to keep him alive and making him comfortable in his last minutes.

These two valued members of the OnCourse team were young men and leave behind young families. Families that now do not have a main income.

This is the tragedy of road traffic collision death. OnCourse preaches road safety and safe driving habits in all that we do but when an incident like this happens on your doorstep it really drives it home.

Black Spot

That particular junction has been highlighted as a collision black spot. Last year 8 people lost their lives at that junction alone. This year so far the tally is two.

I’m not sure of the fatality figures for Entebbe Road as a whole but it has to be one of the most dangerous roads in Uganda with respect to how long it is. The road itself goes through developing trading centres and the junctions at these centres are busy places with taxi and boda boda stages. This should be ample warning to vehicle users to approach them with caution. But as usual drivers make dangerous assumptions and keep on travelling at too fast a speed.

I’ve forgotten how many times I have been overtaken while waiting to turn right at the Kitende junction. Also the junction is on the brow of a hill!

Fatality Markers

OnCourse has decided to request permission to put in two white crosses in a safe place at this junction as a remembrance to Kato and Wilfred and hopefully as a warning to other road users that this junction is dangerous.

White crosses are designed to give motorists a first-hand reminder of the potential dangers involved with driving and to target crash factors such as speed, inattention, inexperience and drink driving.

They use this road safety system in the U.S., Australia, Canada, etc to highlight hazardous areas. It has been, I believe, quite effective. It is know by various names including: Roadside Crash Marker Program, Highway Fatality Marker, and White Cross Memorial Marker Program.

I hope we won’t have to add any more at this spot over the coming year. But then again I’m sure we will.

Our thoughts go out to the families. And my thanks go out to the rest of the OnCourse team for helping out with the arrangements at this sad time.

Road safety is a collective responsibility.
Mick.

Update January 21, 2009:

• On January 17th another person was killed at the same junction with the 2009 tally now at 3.
• Here is a little information about the Montana program.

I asked one expat, living here in Uganda, why he doesn’t wear his seatbelt. And he replied, because he’s a better driver than all the nationals! If we take into account that the emerging nations have about 80 percent of the global death tally from road traffic incidents his rationality seems a little shaky!

When I first came to Uganda driving was described as a series of near misses, or Muzungu kissing, as one national driver called it. Unfortunately it’s now progressed into the full on Glaswegian type.

Safety Belts

Wrong information is given out by people who think they know what they are talking about. For instance, I heard from some drivers and aid workers that they were told not to wear their seat belts because they are working in a hostile environment. This wise piece of advice was given out by the so called security officer of the organisation! What nonsense.

If we look at any hostile environment where aid workers are working we’ll find that one of the largest cause of death and injury is from being involved in a collision, not being shot at. Or, even having to evacuate the vehicle under cross fire for that matter.

But one of the most common excuses I get for not wearing seat belts is that people are afraid of getting stuck in a crashed vehicle with seat belt jammed and, if we take it to worse case, can’t open the doors with the vehicle on fire.

The Life Hammer

Enter the Life Hammer; a simple piece of equipment that can be placed centrally in the vehicle so that all occupants can reach it. It cuts belts and breaks windows. Be aware that it will only break toughened glass, i.e. the side windows of most vehicles. These have come under some criticism because the hammering part has to be done quite aggressively and may take repeated hits to break the glass.

The ResqMe

A piece of equipment that I’ve found to be very effective is the ResQMe.
Made by the same company as life hammer but, in my opinion, a lot more effective. It’s got a sharp shielded blade which slices through belts easily and when you press it against the side glass, in the corner, the glass just shatters from the spring loaded Glaswegian being released. And then it resets itself; ready to be used again. And it’s a key ring! And it works.

I recently and successfully tested one whilst on a first responder (First person on scene) course in the UK. And no, they didn’t teach me how to steal someone’s jacket whilst they were trapped inside the vehicle.

For peace of mind well worth the investment. Just don’t test it on your own vehicle!

And belt up – it makes sense.

Editor’s Note: OnCourse sells ResQMe’s and Life Hammers.  More information can be found here.

We started off by doing some in house training, free of charge, to our customers who noticed results straight away. The word got out. We got requests from other organizations for training and had to think about where to go from there.

We invested time and considerable resources into developing a capacity to be able to carry out what has turned out to be driver training with a difference. Research had told us that driver training in some quarters was getting negative reviews and it was being said that drivers were coming out the other end of the process with poor driving attitudes = poor driving!

When we first started to carry out training as a service industry, if you like, there was resistance to the rates that we set. Even though they were well on a par with similar types of schools in the more developed countries. There was this view that if the service was available in Africa then it should be cheaper!

We went through a struggle period trying to convince organizations of the benefits of our type of training. Small groups, maximum amount of time hands on and the practical side of the training backing up / reinforcing the theory. As in any service industry … “you get what you pay for” …

Saying that, the struggle has never really disappeared and it’s not likely to. It’s more in the background than it used to be.

This is mainly down to organizations who have taken training with us realizing the benefits in relationship to cost; and investing more in a human resource that, in the end, has control over the security of the human asset and, what is possibly, one of the most expensive physical assets, in the third most dangerous working environment globally; the roads.

The message has then been passed onto the other organizations through our best marketing tool. Our customers.

More and more it seems that organizations are realising that the correct type of driver training does reap rewards even though the initial outlay may seem expensive. And what is more they are going on to making this available to their staff as continuance training. Realizing that safe defensive driving is a life and lifetime skill that has to be continually updated to keep training effective.

We have been up on our soap box for the last ten years shouting out that driver training has to be an integral part of any successful fleet management programme and to have a positive effect on global road safety. And we applaud the organisations out there for bringing this message home.

My only hope is that the level of driver training is not compromised. There is no cheap solution to effective driver training. You can’t learn about driving, driving a desk with 30 others in the jam with you!

A big THANK-YOU to all our customers / students, who have stuck with us and passed on our details, over the last ten years.

We would be on the back roads without you.

Mick.

If one did break with 3 tons of pull on I wouldn’t like to see the consequences even if it were dampened.

A while ago I had read some pros and cons of synthetic winch rope and the only real con seemed to be price. It’s a little bit more expensive but a hell of a lot lighter. So it worked out about the same once it was shipped to Uganda.

The Results

We’ve been using it now for about a year and I think we’ve put it through some very rigorous tests using it on the recovery course. So here goes with my purely personal opinion of the stuff.

• It’s lighter and friendlier to use.
• It has a higher safe working load than its wire counterpart.
• It doesn’t kink itself when you don’t have a straight line pull therefore less chance of causing irreparable damage.
• If it does break under load reports have said that it self dampens. But we put a dampener on for the belt and braces approach.
• It’s friendlier on the pulley when doing a 2:1.
• You get rid of those horrible roller fairleads.
• It’s easier to clean and then load back onto the drum when carrying out maintenance.
• You don’t get any stray wire strands going through your gloves.
• You can let it slide through your gloves without the risk of damaging your gloves and hands.
• Your carrying almost 12kg less on the front of your 4wd.
• It’s safer safer safer safer….
• It’s bloody brilliant.