Kira Road traffic police officers check for defaulters of Express Penalty Scheme on August 22, 2022. PHOTO | ABUBAKER LUBOWA
Motorists who fail to pay traffic fines within 72 hours (three days) of issuance of Express Penalty Scheme (EPS) tickets will be slapped with a 50 percent surcharge upon failure to pay, Sunday Monitor can reveal.
In the old traffic regulations that came into effect in 2004 and are slated to end on May 14 this year, motorists issued EPS tickets were mandated to pay their fines within 28 days or face a surcharge of 50 percent upon failure to pay.
The police and the Works and Transport ministry are expected to start enforcing the new statutory instrument Number 56 of 2024, dubbed: The Traffic and Road Safety (Express Penalty Scheme for Road Offenders) regulations, 2024, on May 15 this year.
“Amount of fine (payable within 72 hours after the date of this notice,” the instrument reads in part, adding, “[…] a person who fails to pay the prescribed fixed penalty within the stipulated seventy two hours shall be liable to pay a surcharge of fifty per cent of the prescribed penalty for the offence committed.”
Ms Susan Kataike, the Works and Transport ministry spokesperson, said they are now sensitising the public about the law before its enforcement, adding that “many motorists are happy about the regulations.”
Backstory
The EPS for road traffic offenders was introduced by the Works and Transport Ministry in 2002 as an alternative way to penalise errant motorists. Last year, the police issued EPS tickets valued at Shs41.4 billion, with Shs40 billion paid. According to the Auditor General’s report of 2022, there were more than 528,027 unpaid EPS tickets valued at over Shs100 billion across three financial years.
According to the Traffic Act, the Works and Transport Minister has powers to issue a statutory instrument on the regulation of traffic. A statutory instrument becomes enforceable once it is published in the public gazette, which was done for the new traffic regulations.
The new traffic regulations target speeding motorists with tough fines. Once a motorist exceeds the prescribed speed limit in excess of one kilometre to 30kms per hour, he or she will be fined Shs200,000. If the motorist exceeds the prescribed speed limit over 30km/hr, he or she will be fined Shs600,000.
For instance, if a sedan driver clocks between 91km/hr and 120km/hr on a paved highway road, which is an excess of 30km from the speed limit of 90km/her, he or she will be fined Shs200,000. But if that Sedan driver drives at 121km and above on the same road and spot, he or she will be fined Shs600,000 because he or she has exceeded the speed limit more than 30km/hr.
Fresh beginnings
Last year, the Works and Transport minister also issued a statutory instrument dubbed the Traffic and Road Safety (prescription of speed limits) Regulations that lowered the speed limits of motor vehicles, especially those that contribute the highest numbers of road accidents in the country. The speed limit for all categories of vehicles on urban roads was lowered to 30km/hr from 50km/hr.
According to Works and Transport ministry officials, the enforcement of the traffic and road safety (prescription of speed limits) regulations will begin in May this year. The government plans to use the digital number plate system to enable it to track down errant motorists. Issuance of digital number plates started this year, and the government is expected to cover all vehicles in the next two to three years.
In the new law, the enforcement team is allowed to issue EPS tickets both manually, electronically either through the intelligent monitoring system or any electronic system. The government is expected to install devices along respective roads so as to detect those violating the traffic laws. The system then automatically sends an EPS ticket to the owner of the vehicle by mobile phone short service or other forms.
For the enforcers to know the owners or drivers of the vehicles, the law has allowed the government to link the Ugandan Driver Licensing System and the immigration system to also hold foreign drivers in the country.
“The chief licensing officer shall not renew or grant a class extension of a driving licence if an applicant has not paid a fixed penalty issued under this regulation,” the law states.
Speed bump
The new traffic laws prohibit a foreign driver with pending EPS tickets from leaving the country unless he or she has paid them.
Mr William Busuulwa, the chairperson of Uganda National Transport Alliance, said some of the new traffic regulations, especially those around speed limits, are unrealistic and look primed to leave motorists in great distress.
“Driving at 30km/hr on urban roads would lead to untold congestion. Vehicles would be too slow. The speed limit in urban areas on major roads is too slow. Nearly all roads have become like streets. How will a driver know that they are in an urban area or not when there are no signposts to show the speed limits,” Mr Busuulwa said, adding that most of the road furniture on all roads were either vandalised or it is worn out and broken down.
Ms Kataike admits that road signage is their challenge, but there are efforts to erect posts on all roads.
New rules at a glance
OFFENCES FINES
Driving uninsured vehicle Shs40,000
Driving a car with obscure registration numbers Shs40,000
Driving without a valid driving permit Shs100,000
Permitting driving without a valid driving permit Shs100,000
Using a goods vehicle on a road in a manner which makes it a danger to
other road users Shs200,000
Using a motor vehicle for the carriage of passengers or goods for hire or
reward when it is not licensed to do so Shs100,000
Using a vehicle operator’s licence in breach of the licence issued Shs200,000
Using a motor vehicle which is not in good condition on a road Shs60,000
Driving with blood alcohol concentration above prescribed limit Shs200,000
Driving under the influence of drugs Shs200,000
Careless or inconsiderate use of motor vehicles Shs100,000
Failure to comply with the prescribed speed
Shs200,000 (in excess of 1km per hour to 30km/h.
Shs600,000 (in excess of over 30km/hr)
Failure to give right of way to authorised emergency vehicles or driving
on shoulders Shs100,000
Failure to stop at a railway level crossing Shs40,000
Riding in a dangerous position Shs60,000
Carrying more than one person in addition to the driver, on a motorcycle.
Carrying a person on seat not securely fixed to a motorcycle Shs100,000
Carrying passengers on a motor vehicle, trailer or engineering plant in
such numbers or in such a position as to be likely to interfere with safe
driving
Shs100,000
Driving a motor vehicle without a copy of the registration book in respect
of the vehicle Shs40,000
Carrying of passengers on a motor vehicle, trailer or engineering plant,
obstructing a road or waiting,or being left or parked or being loaded or
unloaded on a road
Shs100,000
Vehicles obstructing the road or waiting, or being left or parked or being
loaded or unloaded in a road Shs100,000
Riding a motorcycle without a valid driving permit Shs100,000
Riding a motorcycle without wearing a crash helmet on the head Shs40,000
Failure to comply with safety measures Shs40,000
Failure to use child restraints Shs40,000
Driver in a vehicle not wearing a safety belt Shs40,000
Passenger in a vehicle not wearing a safety belt Shs20,000
Using a hand held mobile telephone while driving a motor vehicle Shs100,000
Use of motor vehicles without reflectors and/or warning signs Shs100,000
Use of motor vehicles without an approved registration or dealer plates Shs100,000
Tampering or interfering with the functioning of an electronic device
installed in a motor vehicle Shs100,000
Driving a motor vehicle where registration plates are not affixed in accor-
dance with the regulations Shs100,000
Driving a vehicle where a figure, letter, design or ornamentation has been
included on a registration plate other than those authorised by regulations Shs100,000
Defacing, mutilating, obliterating or altering a registration plate affixed on
a motor vehicle or exhibiting any colourable imitation of any registration plate
Shs100,000
Driving a transit or temporary imported motor vehicle in Uganda that is
not installed with readable sticker prescribed by the chief licensing officer Shs100,000
Removing or tampering with a registration plate from the motor vehicle
without notification to the chief licensing officer Shs100,000
Failure to update and validate the registration of a motor vehicle with the
registration plates issued under the regulations Shs100,000
Driving a public service vehicle without a valid driver’s badge and a cer-
tificate of compliance Shs200,000
Using a motor vehicle for instructing learner drivers without a valid cer-
tificate of fitness Shs200,000
