We need to curb steady increase of road accidents

The recently released Uganda Police Force Annual Crime Report 2023 continued to paint a grim picture of the state of affairs on our roads.

According to the report released by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Martins Okoth-Ochola in Kampala this week, the number of reported incidents of road crashes increased by 16 per cent, from 20,394 in 2022 to 23,608 in 2023.

Out of the total crashes reported last year, 4,179 were fatal, 12,487 serious and 6,942 were minor.

On the other hand, there were 24,728 casualties from road crashes in 2023 compared to 21,473 in 2022, giving a 15 per cent increase in the number of casualties.

What this means is in a space of five years, the number of Ugandans who have lost their lives to road accidents has close to doubled. The number of casualties went up from 14,690 in 2019 to 24,728 people in 2023. This is an emergency that has to be addressed immediately.

The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks Uganda among the countries with the highest traffic death rates, estimated at 29 car deaths per 100,000 people. Globally, crash injuries are estimated to be the eighth leading cause of death for all age groups and the leading cause of death for children and young people between five and 29 years of age.

To shed a light on the financial implications on the taxpayer, experts at the Mulago Emergency and Accident Ward say they spend more than Shs76m on treating accident victims daily.

According to police, the causes of most of our accidents are known. In 2015, the Uganda police traffic report, for instance, indicated that 81 percent of road traffic accidents were due to human factors, 15 percent were due to unknown causes, 2.5 percent were due to motor vehicle condition, while the rest was due to road environment and weather condition.

The 2023 report by police needs to be a wakeup call to all stakeholders. All is not well and more Ugandans will lose their lives this year if things do not change.

We already have laws that govern traffic. We need to ensure that all road users obey the traffic laws regardless of status in society or who they know in government. Traffic police needs to crack the whip hard on offenders.

Then to all motorists, ensure that your cars and motorcycles are in good mechanical condition. And always ensure that you start your journeys early to avoid speeding.

Finally, the issue of stationary cars – that caused a number of deaths, including of prominent people last year – on the highways has to be addressed.