AT the dawn of 2005, Uganda Police should be commended for rigorously enforcing the use of seatbelts on our roads.

Seatbelts reduce the risk of death for a front seat car occupant by about 50 per cent and the percentage is higher for back seat occupants.

But the image on Ugandan roads is still very gloomy. In the last 10 years the rate of accidents on roads have gone up by 96 per cent while deaths due to accidents have increased by 55 per cent.

This year alone, every month between 120 and 150 deaths occurred countrywide and up to 5,010 people had serious injuries.

All this could, however, be reversed with more concerted efforts.

The National Bureau of Standards, the Ministry of Transport Works, Housing and Communications and all stakeholders should work to ensure that minimum standards are set.

Some seatbelts in our public service vehicles are actually bag straps while others cannot be buckled. Many passengers have therefore resorted to throwing the seatbelts over their shoulders to dupe police that they are buckled up.

Police has a duty to ensure that seatbelts adhere to agreed standards.

It is also crucial that the road safety campaign evolves from just being punitive to include rigorously sensitisation of the public otherwise the law is considered an agent of harassment.

Equally, police should look at other facets of road safety, like ensuring that vehicles in bad mechanical conditions are not allowed on the roads and the rigorously enforcement of the speed laws by crosschecking that all vehicles have functional speed governors.

It is also the responsibility of every Ugandan to rise up against road carnage by ensuring that all laws that govern safe travelling are observed to the letter.

We can all save useful lives by making road safety our resolution for 2005.