New traffic fines start biting today
A traffic officer directs a motorist during an operation to nab defaulters of the Express Penalty Scheme on Kira road in Kampala last week. PHOTO | ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- Last year, the police issued EPS valued at Shs41.4b. In the same period, Shs40b was paid in EPS tickets. The Auditor General’s report of 2022 showed there were over 528,027 unpaid EPS tickets valued at over Shs100bn for three financial years.
The police and the Ministry of Works and Transport are expected to start enforcement of the new traffic regulations in which motorists are to pay traffic fines within 72 hours (three days) after the issuance of the express penalty scheme (EPS) tickets today.
The motorists will be slapped with a 50 percent surcharge upon failure to pay the EPS tickets within three days. Ms Susan Kataike, the spokesperson of the Works and Transport ministry, said the enforcement of the new traffic regulations starts May 20, 2025 (today).
“We will launch new traffic regulations on Tuesday (today),” Ms Kataike said. The MoWT issued two new traffic regulations. The first statutory instrument is number 56 of 2024: The Traffic and Road Safety (Express Penalty Scheme for Road Offenders) Regulations, 2024, the traffic.
The second regulation is the road safety (prescription of speed limits) regulations. In the old traffic regulations that have been in operation since 2004, motorists issued to the EPS tickets had to pay the fines within 28 days and a 50 percent surcharge could be slapped on them upon failure to pay.
Stakeholders’ demands
Leaders of transporters’ associations opposed some of the penalties in the regulations and demanded that enforcement should be delayed until the government has fulfilled its obligations. Uganda Transport Operators Federation (Utof) chairperson Rashid Ssekindi said the government hasn’t yet erected signposts to indicate the new speed limits at different areas.
“The government isn’t ready. There are no signposts to show the drivers the speed limits,” Mr Ssekindi said. He said an auto EPS system would be established at junctions for those who violate the red lights, but traffic police officers are still directing the flow of traffic. “We had agreed with the police and the Ministry of Transport that officers need to be deployed at the junctions before the system starts.
The system penalises a motorist who has passed a red light regardless of whether he or she was instructed by the traffic officer or not. Our motorists will be penalised when they are abiding by the instructions of the traffic officers,” Mr Ssekindi said.
Mr William Busuulwa, the chairperson of Uganda National Transport Alliance, said the new speed limits are likely to lead to traffic jams and confusion in the country. “Ugandans have built along the highways. Urban areas are all over. That means drivers will drive at 50km/hr or less. This is going to cause delays. There is a need for clarity on what constitutes a highway, urban road, and access road,” Mr Busuulwa said.
Speed limits
In the new regulations, 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 by over 30km/hr, he or she will be fined Shs600,000.
For instance, if a sedan driver drives at a speed 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 by more than 30km/hr.
Last year, the minister of Works and Transport 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. There are also fears that motorists, whose number plates criminals steal, especially at night, would be automatically penalised in the new EPS system.
According to the new EPS regulations, tampering or interfering with the functioning of an electronic device installed in a motor vehicle attracts a Shs100,000 fine.
