16 injured as speeding bus overturns along Gulu highway

Police have started investigations into circumstances under which a speding bus overturned injuring 16 passengers who were on board.

According to the traffic police spokesperson, ASP Faridah Nampiima, the accident happened at 10pm on Monday night in Nakasongola when a Isuzu bus registration number UAR 655M belonging to Valley Bus Company Limited.

“The Bus was coming from Gulu side heading  to Kampala and it IS  alleged that the driver lost control and overturned, causing serious injuries to 16 passengers who were on board. The cause of the accident has been attributed to reckless driving,” Nampiima said.

She noted that the injured victims were rushed to Nakasongola Health Centre IV,  St Franciscan Health Centre IV and Kasana  Hospital Luwero for medical attention.

The development comes on the backdrop of an increase in crashes on Ugandan roads involving buses.

Last week, a midnight accident near Corner Kamdini saw a bus ram into a stationary trailer that was offloading cassava on the roadside.

The accident left 19 dead and over 20 seriously injured.

Traffic police on Monday said 79 people were killed in road crashes in the first seven days of the year 2023.

Police also revealed that going forward, all bus drivers will be required to have identification badges.

Traffic Police spokesperson, Faridah Nampiima  explained that in every passenger bus, the driver must clearly display their photo,  badge which has their name, permit number, class of the driving permit and the bus company to help police monitor the movement of buses.

Nampiima noted that badges are one of the initiatives to crack down on incompetent drivers since only qualified ones are issued with the badges.

“All companies are instructed to submit particulars of their drivers to the Ministry of Works and Transport for verification. No driver of a bus will be allowed on the road without a badge and if your badge is withdrawn, you will never be allowed to chauffer a bus in this country,”Nampiima warned.

She noted that badges will also help to avoid cases where drivers shift from one bus company to the others after causing accidents.

Route charts

In a bid to tighten the noose around drivers, the traffic police spokesperson noted that they are resuming the crackdown on buses without route charts.

A route chart is a document which details the route a specific bus must play and the time it does it.

However, according to ASP Faridah Nampiima, some bus companies don’t have their own route charts and share from their colleagues in the same business.

She says that because of lack of route charts to be followed, many drivers ply routes that they are not supposed to be plying but also make more than the recommended trips which has been cited as one of the major causes of accidents by buses on Ugandan roads.

“Every company should have a route chat and if it is given, it shows when and where your bus is supposed to be in a particular place. Every bus should move within the specified time of the route chat. We don’t want to see scenarios where a bus arrives at a particular point before the time specified on the route chart since this shows that the driver is overspeeding,”Nampiima said.

The traffic police spokesperson says the development is one of the ways in which they want to tighten the noose around bus drivers in a bid to reduce road accidents, especially those caused by drivers.

She insists that if drivers follow the route charts, they will avoid return journeys which have proven to be the leading causes of accidents by buses as the drives rush to make as many trips as possible.