More road users die in Kampala crashes - 2022 report

The third Kampala annual road safety report 2022 indicates that pedestrians, motorcyclists and bicyclists made up 94 percent of the reported deaths in 2022 as the key vulnerable road user categories. Motorcyclists alone accounted for 49 percent of these deaths.

Launched on December 11, 2023, the report adds that the number of reported fatalities in Kampala increased by one percent from 419 in 2021 to 425 in 2022. The number of serious injuries also decreased by four percent from 2,318 in 2021 to 2,234 in 2022.

The report adds that the death rate decreased from 12 per 100,000 population in 2021 to 11.6 in 2022. The serious injury rate also decreased from 66 per 100,000 population in 2021 to 61 in 2022.

Death, injury by road user type

Pedestrian deaths increased by 14 percent from 162 in 2021 to 185 in 2022 while motorcyclist deaths, marginally dropped by one percent in 2022 compared to 2021. These findings, the report emphasises, reinforce the need to prioritise motorcycle and pedestrian safety in Kampala.

Micheal Kananura, the public relations officer of the traffic directorate, says the continuous motorcyclist’s deaths is as a result of recklessness on roads, not wearing crash helmets and non-compliance to and respect for traffic regulations.

“We are putting more emphasis on enforcement and operations targeting motorcyclists. We are partnering with Kampala Capital City Authority to organise motorcyclists by gazetting them to stages with organised leadership. This will make it easy to monitor them,” Kananura says.

On average, Kananura says, there are more than 500,000 motorcyclists in Kampala against approximately 600 traffic personnel manning traffic. This means that one traffic officer has to control an average of 830 motorcyclists.

Death and serious injuries by sex and age

The report states that males accounted for 76 percent of traffic crash deaths and 72 percent of serious injuries in Kampala in 2022, a pattern that has been consistent in Kampala for the last three years. By age, the highest number of deaths in 2022 occurred among those aged 30 to 39 years, whereas serious injuries were most frequently reported among those aged 20 to 29 years because.

Crash and death by time and day of the week 

A higher number of crashes occurred between 6pm and 8pm in 2022. However, fatal crashes were highest between 8pm and 10pm. When it comes to crashes by day of the week, deaths were most frequently observed from crashes that occurred on Mondays and Saturdays.

These findings, according to Stella Namatovu, the surveillance coordinator of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road safety (BIGRS) that works in collaboration with KCCA, says can inform traffic police operational staffing and planning for risk-factor enforcement.

Deaths by week day and time of day

From 2019 to 2022, road crash deaths were most frequently reported on Mondays, Saturdays and Sundays from 4pm to midnight.

“The findings highlight the need for increased enforcement on road injury risk factors such as speeding, drink-driving, and non-use of helmets, seat belts and child restraints to be intensified at these days and times,” Namatovu advises.

Crashes, deaths and serious injuries by month

The distribution of crashes, deaths and serious injuries by month showed no seasonal pattern for 2022. However, the highest number of reported deaths in 2022 occurred in June. It should also be noted that crashes involving two or more vehicles constituted half of the reported deaths in 2022. Collisions with pedestrians made up 39 percent of deaths while crashes with two or more vehicles was 50 percent. 

Death by road user and casual vehicle type

Deaths among pedestrians were most frequently caused by cars and pick-ups at 40 percent, while buses/minibuses and motorcycles were the causal vehicles at 17 percent, and 14 percent of pedestrian deaths respectively in 2022. Deaths among motorcyclists frequently occurred from crashes involving motorcycles at 36 percent. 

High risk crash locations

According to the report, there have been 10 major road crash risk locations in Kampala. These include the Kalerwe Roundabout on the Northern Bypass that recorded 13 deaths in 2022, followed by Sentema Roundabout still on the Northern Bypass with 11 deaths.

Others include Mbogo to Najjera Road Junction on the Northern Bypass with 10 deaths, Nakulabye intersection on Balintuma and Hoima Road with nine deaths and joining the Bwaise flyover on the Northern Bypass with nine deaths.

Others include Bwaise Roundabout on the Northern Bypass with eight deaths, Access Road and Jinja Road Junction with seven deaths, Salaama Road and Entebbe Road junction with seven deaths, Kisaasi to Kyanja Road junction on the Northern Bypass with seven deaths and the Nsoba to Kyebando Road flyover on the Northern Bypass with six deaths.

“These locations should inform plans for road infrastructure maintenance, intersection design interventions and enforcement operations,” the report advises.

Per kilometre

Apart from locations, the report also singles out the top 10 high risk fatal crash corridors, with numbers of deaths, length of the corridor and the number of deaths per kilometre. For example, the two-kilometre Gayaza roundabout (Kalerwe) to Kyebando Police post on the Northern Bypass registered 68 deaths, indicating that there are 34 deaths per kilometre. The 3.5km Kisaasi to Naalya roundabout on the Northern Bypass registered 53 deaths, indicating 15 deaths per kilometre. This was followed by the 1.8km Entebbe Road with 50 deaths, with 27 deaths per kilometre and the 7.5km Ggaba Road with 39 deaths, indicating five deaths per kilometre, among others.