10 die in traffic accidents each day - police report
Accident scene. Police tow the wreckage of the vehicles that were involved in an accident on Masaka Road in 2017. FILE PHOTO
Kampala- Four of the 10 people killed in road accidents every day in Uganda are pedestrians, the 2018 Police Annual Crime Report indicates.
In 2018, at least 1,424 pedestrians were killed compared to 1,319, who died in 2017. Overall, death on the road increased by 5.4 percentage points from 3,500 fatalities in 2017. Nearly 10,000 people survived with injuries.
Most of the death of pedestrians happened in Kampala Metropolitan Area (Kampala City, Wakiso and Mukono), where road discipline is expected to be high because of the good level of traffic literacy.
But the director of Traffic and Road Safety, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Steven Kasiima, said most cases of death among pedestrians are as a result of road designs that do not factor in walkways.
“The directorate will liaise with the Ministry of Works and Transport to ensure safety of pedestrians by looking at strategies aimed at improving pedestrian safety,” AIGP Kasiima said.
Police campaigns
Police and the Transport ministry say emphasis has mainly been on reducing indiscipline on the highways through campaigns such as Fika Salama (Arrive Safely) programme where they target drivers speeding or have no driving licences.
The report indicates that deaths among motorcycle riders were ranked second with 878 victims last year. However, for a long period of time, deaths of motorcycle riders dropped by 4.4 percentage points.
AIGP Kasiima said fatalities among motorcyclists would have been even lower had it not been unacceptable indiscipline among riders in western Uganda, which contributed the biggest percentage of death.
The report further shows that 380 motorcycle passengers died in road accidents last year, which is a 4.4 percentage point increase from 2017.
Surprisingly, buses, minibuses and commuter taxis, whose drivers the public often accuse of driving recklessly had the lowest death rate. Bus accidents killed 48 passengers which is too high compared to 10 victims registered in 2017.
Thirty passengers died in minibuses while 93 were killed in commuter taxis.
The report also indicates that of every 10 people involved in road accidents, eight were males. Half of the victims of accidents were between the age of 25 and 44 years, which is the most productive period of human life.
The Inspector General of Police, Mr Martins Okoth Ochola, said their efforts to reduce accidents on the road will mainly focus on monitoring speed driving, drunk driving and incompetent drivers.
Speeding and reckless or careless driving caused 80 per cent of the total accidents.
Police made Shs18b from penalty tickets issued to errant motorists and Shs15b was collected.
ROAD ACCIDENTS
Month with highest road accidents.
December: 1,153 accidents
Month with lowest road accidents
October: 1,000
Police Regions with highest road accidents
Kampala Metropolitan South: 2,515
Kampala Metropolitan North: 1,375
Kampala Metropolitan East: 1,355
Aswa Region: 568
Albertine Region: 547
