Eight years ago, during the second global high level conference on road safety in Brasilia – Brazil, Uganda made a commitment to reduce road death rate by 50% by 2020.
Through Brasilia Declaration, countries pledged to achieve the sustainable goal 3.6 by making roads safer through infrastructure modification ensuring availability of sidewalks, bike paths, bike lanes, proper lighting, installation of radars with cameras, road marking among others on all high ways. This target was set under the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development.
While some of these have been done, considering the frequency of accidents happening on the Mbale – Moroto road, and if it can be generalized across the country, the possibility of decreasing accidents, injuries and deaths seems highly unlikely.
On 18th February 2023, a Mable truck crashed into a parked tractor around Nalugugu trading center killing two people and injuring six. On Friday 7th April 2023, another Mable truck Rock Terra No.8 Registration number UBJ 470L knocked a bodaboda killing the driver and the passenger who was an Australian national around Konta in Sironko district. On 9th April 2023, an over speeding vehicle in a hit and run accident ended the life of a 13 year old boy around Bukhulo in Sironko district. On Tuesday 12th April 2023, an over speeding Fuso truck rammed into Muyembe Health Center IV injuring dozens of people which numbers are yet to establish. And on 13th April 2023, a bodaboda rider knocked dead a 3 year girl around Sironko town council due to reckless ridding.
These accidents mirror in the Uganda police Force’s crime report 2022 in which it is reported a 16.9% increase in road traffic accidents to 20,394 in 2022 from 17,443 in 2021. 61% of these are attributed to over speeding and reckless driving.
According to ASP Nampiima Faridah, the PRO Directorate Traffic and Road safety, vehicular speed is the most important risk factor for road traffic accidents, injuries, severity and deaths in Uganda. That at any point in time, half of the drivers on highway are above the speed limit. It was against this background that on June 6th 2022 that Uganda Police Force introduced measures to curb indiscipline on the roads which among others included; increase of motorized patrols and strengthening operations on over speeding using already deployed speed detector guns.
However, inadequacy in number of traffic personnel, lack of speed radars and camera are some of the reasons for lacunae in implementation of strict speed limits hence repeated violation of speed limits leading to more crashes and injuries.
What is more shocking is that the whole Eastern Region has only one speed detector. The one that I have seen at Sironko ages back to the colonial times making it unable to detect speed while also capturing the vehicle number plate. There is also one speed camera at Mbale while the next one is in Kapchorwa, almost 80kms apart with nothing in Sironko and Bulambuli districts. In the circumstances, it becomes very difficult to prosecute offenders in courts of law.
Controlling speed when mobility is essential is highly important. When speed limit is combined with other traffic engineering measures such as speed cameras and speed detectors, there is a greater impact on accidents on the roads.
Government through the sustainable Development Goals has a responsibility to equip Traffic Police Officers with the relevant gadgets to ensure road safety. Traffic Police are the backbone of implementing and monitoring the speed limit on roads notwithstanding their integrity challenges.
Evidence from other countries has demonstrated the importance of speed detectors in reducing road traffic crashes and injuries. Automated speed enforcement program in France started in 2003 demonstrated a significant reduction in road traffic crushes and injuries as high as 19.7%. Cities in USA with red light cameras have reported fewer traffic incidents than those without.
I call upon members of Parliament to take this matter as an issue of National Importance and ensure police are equipped enough to ensure road accidents in Uganda reduce by 50% come 2030.
I also call upon owners of these Mable trucks to rein over their drivers to limit their speed to at least 40 Km/h while plying this Mbale-Sironko-Moroto highway.
Mr. Bwayo Geoffrey is a key opinion leaders in the Elgon Zone.
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