Highway operations such as Fika Salaama aimed at apprehending motorists
without required driving documents and impounding vehicles in poor
mechanical state were initiated to curb road accidents. FILE PHOTO
A grisly bus accident
occurred yesterday at Namayonjo in Nakasongola District. While details
were still scanty, initial reports indicated that four people died in
the crash and about 20 people who were injured had been taken to nearby
health centres in Nakasongola.
A traffic police officer
at the scene told this newspaper that the accident occurred after the
bus, belonging to Link Bus Company, overturned several times. It was
said to be speeding at Namayonjo, one of the black spots on the
Kampala-Gulu highway.
Yesterday’s accident is just one
of the several fatal crashes registered on this road, many of them
attributed to speeding, reckless driving and other human errors. Police
have, on several occasions, issued warnings to motorists about reckless
driving and threatened to arrest drivers and cyclists who violate
traffic regulations.
Highway operations such as Fika
Salaama aimed at apprehending motorists without required driving
documents and impounding vehicles in poor mechanical state were
initiated to curb road accidents. Similar initiatives to monitor and
implement rules on speed governors, use of seat belts, etc., are useful
but inconsistent.
Ideally, no motorist should be
reminded to abide by traffic regulations. Laws on observing speed
limits, use of seat belts, driving defensively, among others, should be
followed by anyone who gets behind the wheel. But this is not the case.
Many motorists have to be policed to do the right thing, which explains
why we still register accidents due to speeding – moreover at known
black spots where we ought to be more careful.
Uganda
police records indicate that human error contributed to 56, 565
accidents in the country in only eight years, claiming 25,430 lives and a
total of 115,519 casualties. Police have data on the various black
spots across the country. This information is crucial and can be used to
address road safety concerns.
In December last year,
Daily Monitor published a detailed list of these black spots to caution
motorists travelling for the festive season – a time when higher
accident rates are registered – to take extra care when approaching such
spots. From our accident records, it is clear that many motorists do
not take their personal safety and that of their passengers seriously.
We can significantly reduce or avoid road accidents by driving
responsibly.
Police should also use available accident
related data to come up with stringent road safety measures that are
strictly enforced. For instance, the black spots across the country are
known. These can be mapped with clear locations indicating danger zones.
The information can be used by stakeholders in the transport sector to
formulate road safety measures, especially around these spots.
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• To be accurate and fair in all we do.
• To be respectful to all in our pursuit of the truth.
• To refuse to accept any compensation beyond that provided by Monitor Publications Ltd. for what we do in our news gathering and decision-making.
Further, we ask that we be informed whenever you feel that we have fallen short in our attempt to keep these commitments.
editorial@ug.nationmedia.com
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