“39 people died in new year road accidents,” - Police

At least 39 persons died in road accidents as the country welcomed the new year, the Traffic Police Directorate, has said.

Traffic Police Spokesperson ASP Faridah Nampiima while addressing journalists in a joint police presser at the Naguru headquarters on Monday said that there was a total of 106 accidents that occurred between 31st December, 2021 and 2nd January, 2022.

“Out of these, 29 accidents were fatal, 52 were serious and 25 were minor,” ASP Nampiima said.

She added that in all the 106 accidents, there was a total of 117 victims, out of which 39 died and 78 sustained injuries.

Kampala registered 54 of the 106 accidents, while the rest (52) were upcountry.

Cause of accidents

Nampiima explained further, saying that at least 94 of the total accidents registered were caused by reckless driving.

There were 7 hit and run accidents and at least 3 accidents were attributed to driving under the influence of alcohol according to Nampiima.

Careless pedestrians were responsible for only one accident and in another incident, a passenger fell off the vehicle.

A total of 1379 traffic offenders were arrested and issued with EPS tickets on various traffic offences at various points across the country between this period according to Nampiima.

The Traffic police mouthpiece warned all road users to remain vigilant while using the road and urged drivers to avoid reckless driving since it has been seen as the leading cause of fatalities on the roads.