Safe roads, save lives
While many factors such as the weather, design of the road and others contribute to road accidents, human error takes the biggest percentage.
What you need to know:
- The issue: Road safety
- Our view: The Joe Walker campaign, therefore, is one that should be embraced by citizens, institutions, and the government. Individuals behind the wheel regardless of who they are should stay in their lane, follow the road signs and be cognizant of all the other people on the road.
Esther Kawede was visibly excited to join a number of other individuals in the Joe Walker campaign, which started yesterday, and in which a number of people, including the brain behind the idea, Joseph Beyanga, plan to walk 320 kilometres from Kampala to Bushenyi.
Her reason? Her younger sister Lydia was involved in an accident eight years ago when the Gaagaa bus she was travelling in had a head-on collision with a KK bus in Nakasongola. Lydia survived but had to stay for long in the hospital. The events had a traumatic effect on her and today, she suffers some mental health problems and needs therapy.
The Joe Walker campaign, whose theme is “Safe Roads, Save Lives”, is aimed at letting everyone know that it is their responsibility to drive safely on the road. The Annual Police reports released over the last four years consistently show an ironic statistic.
The biggest number of deaths caused due to road accidents are those of pedestrians and cyclists, many of whom might not even have owned a car, much less had a ride in one. The other frustrating statistic, in the same report, is that more than 70 per cent of the road accidents are due to careless and reckless driving. In addition, speeding is one of the contributing factors accounting for 36 per cent of all fatalities.
This indicates that while many factors such as the weather, design of the road and others contribute to road accidents, human error takes the biggest percentage.
The Joe Walker campaign, therefore, is one that should be embraced by citizens, institutions, and the government. Individuals behind the wheel regardless of who they are should stay in their lane, follow the road signs and be cognizant of all the other people on the road.
Institutions should ensure drivers of their officials are well-trained and that those who commit significant errors are penalized accordingly. The government through the traffic police should effect the rules of the road without fear or favour.
Supported by the Nation Media Uganda Group, Coca-Cola, Vivo Energy, Tugende, Uganda National Roads Authority, Plascon and Nicole Foundation and many individuals, this walk should be embraced by all because we are each affected in one way or another when we or someone we know is involved in an accident.
Kawede knows this too well and while she will not walk all the way to Bushenyi, she will walk to work each day until she clocks 320km. Let’s each do our bit.
