Government to reduce traffic accident deaths by half

At the 2020 Global Ministerial Meeting in Stockholm, it was revealed that Sweden and Brazil had reduced their deaths by half, while Uganda was among the many countries whose death rates increased instead.

An average of 3,600 people die from road crashes in Uganda, according to traffic police reports.

Globally, road traffic accidents are the 18th leading cause of death, with more than 1.35 million deaths and up to a 50 million injuries recorded annually, according to the Global status report on road safety

To reduce accidents, the ministry says government agencies should not work in isolation, but should work with civic bodies as well as the private sector in order to reduce the carnage on Ugandan roads.

Recently, the Uganda police released a traffic report which stated that 338 accidents have occurred on Ugandan roads and out of these 57 have been fatal, 213 were serious and 113 “minor” between January 4^th and January 30^th.

Over 4,921 traffic offenders have been arrested and issued with (Express Penalties Scheme) EPS tickets on various traffic offences at different checkpoints in the whole country during the said period.

It was also stated that these offences involved reckless driving 1,591, DMCs 1,728, Invalid Driving permits 678, speeding 292, 632 for not wearing seatbelts, among other traffic offences.

These figures dropped in the context of the number of accidents during the festive season where 58 died in road accidents. The dead were mostly motorcyclists, says the Traffic Police Directorate.

Nampiima said a total of 195 accidents were registered between December 23 and 26 alone.

And out of these accidents during the time leading up to Christmas and slightly after, 51 were fatal, 93 serious and 51 minor accidents.

“There were 248 accident victims during the (Christmas) period and out of these, 58 persons died and 190 sustained injuries. Of the dead, seven were drivers, 16 seriously injured whereas four pedal cyclists died four seriously injured and 17 motorcyclists died,” ASP Nampiima said.

The Traffic Police Directorate spokesperson went to detail how a total of 12 passengers on motorcycles died, whereas 33 were seriously injured.

She also noted that no passengers travelling in taxis died, although 14 were seriously injured.

According to ASP Nampiima, Traffic Police registered 171 accidents caused by reckless driving while pedestrians crossing or walking in the street or road unlawfully or without regard for approaching traffic, known as jaywalking, leading to hit and run accidents were 17.

“Although we registered these accidents, none happened at the known blackspots because we had deployed at those points,” she said.

“A total of 3070 traffic offenders were arrested and issued with Express Penalty Scheme tickets for various offences at checkpoints in various parts of the country. Of these 644 were penalized for reckless driving, 422 for driving vehicles in dangerous mechanical conditions, 235 for having invalid driving licences, 164 for over speeding and 157 for not wearing seat belts among other traffic offences,” she added.

The ministry of works and police hope that public participation in reducing road accidents will be effective in doing so.