Let police declare operation Towa Ujinga on our roads

Lately, Uganda is experiencing gruesome road accidents that are claiming hundreds of lives in what seem to be out of reckless behaviour by the drivers.

Whereas government has made tremendous progress in building good roads across the country, Ugandan drivers think it is now time to “fly” instead of exercising conscious driving.

Ironically, instead of celebrating the benefits that come with better paved roads, we are now constantly crying for our injured and dead because of avoidable road accidents. Therefore, it is my considered opinion that Uganda police traffic department declares Operation Towa Ujinga on our roads.

Aggressive driving behaviour takes many forms. Typical aggressive driving behaviour include speeding, driving too close to the car in front, not respecting traffic regulations, improper lane changing or weaving, etc. The list is long. Most Ugandans drive aggressively from time to time and many drivers are not even aware when they are doing it. Almost all accidents on our newly built highways are a result of reckless driving.

There is no any other form of curbing this catastrophic behaviour other than coming hard on those found guilty.

Aggressive driving is difficult to define because of its many different manifestations but having a clear definition is important for police and legal action against it to succeed. A Global Web Conference on Aggressive Driving Issues organised in Canada in October 2000 offered the following definition “A driving behaviour is aggressive if it is deliberate, likely to increase the risk of collision and is motivated by impatience, annoyance, hostility and/or an attempt to save time.”

One needs to travel to Rwanda by road to realise how Ugandan drivers conduct themselves. From Kampala to Katuna or Kagitumba, which are boarder points to Rwanda, our truck drivers are literally “flying”. The moment they are in the Rwandan territory, they slow down and drive humanly largely because they know that any senseless driving in the Rwandan territory can make them land penalties that are so punitive.

Therefore, that clearly shows that we have relaxed a lot on stubborn road users, which in a way has bred impudence.

Indeed, we have seen that whenever, we have increased vigilance of traffic police officers apprehending some of the wayward drivers, there is always sanity. Problem is that we just relax along the way and reckless drivers go back to their bad habits. Of course, traffic police officers do incredible work, especially managing traffic in the city centre, but efforts to tame highway drivers have been dismal.

Traffic police have talked tough but Ugandans, and their indiscipline that seem to have shot over the roof continue with their habits of bad driving. They still drive on the opposite lane, they drive on pedestrian walkways, do not respect traffic lights, they drive as if they are high on drugs, etc. Unsignalised intersections in Uganda are uncontrolled, and are characterised by chaotic traffic situation and have become accident hot spots.

While officiating at the 32nd NRM/A Victory Day anniversary celebrations in Arua in January, President Museveni decried the reckless driving and riding behaviour of Ugandans that is not only putting the lives of people at risk, but also scaring away investors in Uganda.

Over years, Uganda has not been spared from the heavy burden of Road Traffic Incidents (RTI). At present, it experiences RTI deaths at 28.9 per 100,000 people. As a result, Uganda is among the top-ranking countries for RTIs along with South Africa, Nigeria, Iran, Thailand and Dominican Republic at 31.9; 33.7; 34.1; 38.1; and 41.7 per 100,000 people, respectively.

The trend of Uganda’s RTIs is further mirrored by the solid evidence denoting traffic injuries within the top 10 causes of mortality in the country.

Accordingly, not less than 1,000 and 10,000 victims were killed and injured respectively due to RTIs in Uganda between 2010 and 2013. This has been reported in the annual traffic and crime reports of the Uganda Police Force. This has cost Uganda dearly, particularly in terms of the loss of a significant proportion of its economically active population, which in turn retards its economic growth and development.

Mr Katureebe works at the Uganda Media Centre