Ugandan roads claim 135 lives in first two weeks of the new year

At least 135 people have lost  their lives on Ugandan roads in the first two weeks of the new year 2023, traffic police has said.

Last week, police said 79 people were killed and 345 injured in 340 accidents on Ugandan roads in the first week of January.

Updating the country on Monday, the traffic police spokesperson, ASP Faridah Nampiima said in a period of five days between January 9 and 14, 217 accidents were recorded on roads around the country.

“In the 217 accidents, there were 3030 victims, 56  of who died whereas 247 sustained serious injuries,”Nampiima said.

She explained that reckless driving continued to be the major cause of crashes on Uagndan roads with many drivers and riders joining the main roads with disregard to other users, disrespecting roads signs and markings , overspeeding and driving while using mobile phones.

The latest figures indicate that in the first two weeks of the new year 2023, Ugandan roads have claimed the lives of 135 people and this means almost 10 people were killed every day in crashes.

These statistics are a cause for worry for members of the public and road users as the country continues to lose lives on Ugandan roads.

Whereas authorities have largely blamed motorists and other road users for their own predicaments, on the other side government has been blamed for failure to come up with a solution to the ever increasing road carnage.

Operations

The traffic police spokesperson on Monday noted that during the past one week, they have issued 10825 express penalty tickets to drivers who violate traffic regulations.

ASP Faridah Nampiima said those involved in reckless driving and those driving vehicles in dangerous mechanical conditions took the lion’s share.

Tightens noose on buses, boda bodas

The traffic police spokesperson also noted that starting last week; they launched operations targeting motorcycle riders without riding permits.

She revealed in the entire Kampala, between January 12  and 14 , a total of 1690 motorcycles were impounded and riders issued with express penalty tickets.

According to Nampiima, if a motorcycle is impounded when the rider doesn’t have a riding permit, they are issued with an express penalty ticket worth shs40,000 but warned that in case the rider abandons the motorcycle during the operation, when the owner claims it, they will be fined shs100,000 for permitting the riding of a vehicle without a valid driving permit.

Buses

The traffic police spokesperson noted that starting today, Monday, January 16, all bus drivers are asked to move with their identification badges but also have a copy displayed in the bus with their picture and driving permit number for passengers  to watch.

Nampiima noted that all buses should have route charts, adding that at all checkpoints on highways, traffic officers will check for these requirements and a bus that doesn’t have them will be asked to return to the park.