What can we do to reduce road accidents in Uganda?
What you need to know:
- Yet even as I write, boda-boda riders continue to ride and park on pavements in spite of traffic rules, especially in Kampala’s city centre and they do this sometimes in the presence of traffic police officers. Therefore, traffic police needs to do more to check them.
Uganda is in the midst of mourning. Flags are flying at half-mast. President Museveni announced three days of national mourning from Sunday, May 27 to Tuesday May 29 in remembrance of the dead and to sympathise with the injured following a nasty bus accident in Kiryandongo District on Friday, May 25.
All the deceased met untimely deaths for they assumed, upon boarding the ill-fated bus that Friday, that they would reach their destination safely.
Therefore, the mourning period is a time for the nation to reflect on road recklessness and how we can mitigate it. Uganda has the highest road accident fatalities in East Africa. According to the United Nations ‘Road Safety Performance Review Report on Uganda’, which was released in March this year; 10 people die in Uganda every day due to road accidents!
So what can be done to make our roads safe? First of all, on many of the highways in the country, there are hardly road signs in place. This is due to the activities of some unscrupulous and unpatriotic criminally-minded people, who steal the road signs and sell them for scrap metal. This makes drivers in Uganda ignorant of the speed limits and such other traffic-related information.
Speeding and overtaking are two worst traffic vices which often lead to road carnage. Consequently, more traffic police officers should be deployed on highways, armed with radar speed guns to enable them catch speeding motorists and other traffic offenders. Besides, since many Ugandans often dodge going to driving school and obtain driving license illegally, we need a road safety campaign to educate errant drivers on road safety.
Boda boda riders cannot be ignored on this matter. During the Labour Day celebration, for instance, President Museveni warned boda boda riders against riding or parking on pavements because pavements are meant for pedestrians. He also warned that this indiscipline should stop.
Yet even as I write, boda-boda riders continue to ride and park on pavements in spite of traffic rules, especially in Kampala’s city centre and they do this sometimes in the presence of traffic police officers. Therefore, traffic police needs to do more to check them.
Josepha Jabo,
[email protected]
