Uganda Red Cross, Kawempe division partner to fight road accidents
Uganda continues to grapple with a high rate of accidents some of them stemming from not following road signs.
It is from this very point that the Uganda Red Cross took the initiative to repaint the zebra crossing opposite Kawempe Referral hospital to help patient cross the road with ease.
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In organised cities, a pedestrian is treated with utmost respect and cars will stop even where there is no zebra crossing, for people to cross.
While Ugandans might have gotten used to the hassle, it was a nightmare for patients that cross the road to access medication at Kawempe hospital.
The zebra crossing here had lost its colour and patients especially the pregnant women were finding it difficult to access the hospital given the fact that many motorists tend not to give way.
According to Mulindwa Sserunjoji, many motorists have continuously failed to respect the Zebra Crossing something that has led to the death of many pedestrians.
"We will continue to sensitise road users and apprehend those who do not abide by the law," Sserunjoji said.
According Irene Nakasiita , the public relations officer, Uganda Red Cross, the organisation attends to more than 10 accident victims a day.
"As a country, we need to do something about road accidents," she said
The recorded road crash fatalities in Uganda rose from 2,579 in 2015 to 3,503 in 2016 representing 25.9%.
This is a result of weak leadership for road safety, declining priority of allocation of resources and diminishing capacity for road safety interventions mainly driven by low commitment to road safety matters, reduced interest of development partners in road safety and non-participation of key stakeholders
According to the United Nations statistics, nearly 1.25 million people are killed on the world’s roads every year.
