ROAD SAFETY SITUATION IN UGANDA
According to the latest WHO data published in 2018 Road Traffic Accidents Deaths in Uganda reached 11,730 or 4.52% of total deaths. The average adjusted Death Rate is 40.17 per 100,000 of population ranks Uganda number 15 in the world. Measures need to be taken to reduce the risks of accidents on the road.
What has been done?
The Traffic and Road Safety Act (Amendment) 2020 has been launched that prescribes steeper and more deterrent penalties for traffic offenders in order to improve discipline of road users especially drivers.
To improve the fleet of vehicles in the country government through Ministry of Works and Transport contracted SGS to inspect all vehicles in the country for road worthiness. However, the Ministry is still waiting Parliament to make a final decision.
Uganda Police has also enhanced emergency response centers along strategic points of the highways for quick response to road safety incidents.
Marking of Roads and ensuring signs and warnings are put in appropriate positions using reflective paint.
Figure 1: The photo shows aerial view of Tirinyi- Pallisa-Kumi/Pallisa Kamonkoli Roads, construction completed works on signage and markings ongoing.
Installation of Digital Speed limiters in Commercial Vehicles: The Ministry is proposing to introduce speed limiters that come with GPS trackers and recorders, over speeding alerts and can notify the regulator of any tampering attempts to all Commercial vehicles.
Intensified Road Safety sensitization awareness and strengthening of the coordination role of road safety activities by Ministry of works and UNRA.
Conducting road safety audits by ministry of works and UNRA so that the roads constructed are of high quality and are safe for users.
Figure 2: In the Photo, I am with the team of engineers from UNRA and Ministry of works participating in Road safety audit of Tirinyi-pallisa Road.
CHALLENGES
- Insufficient funding for road safety interventions.
- Unsafe road infrastructure, which was designed without road safety in mind and lack of resources to upgrade them.
- Importation of used vehicles whose safety components have deteriorated associated with high pollution levels.
- Poor public transport services which led to high usage of motorcycles as public transport and minibuses.
- Corruption of traffic officers has led to difficulty in enforcing road safety regulations in place.
KATO ANDREW BAKA
