Mobiles land 150 in court
Jul 12, 2004
THE Buganda Road Court yesterday convicted 150 motorists of driving without using safety belts and speaking on phones
By Vision Reporters
THE Buganda Road Court yesterday convicted 150 motorists of driving without using safety belts and speaking on phones, as the Police began implementing the new road safety rules.
Magistrate Margaret Tibulya cautioned the motorists after each of them pleaded guilty to the charges.
The motorists, who were arrested in an early morning one-hour operation on major roads leading in and out of the city, looked remorseful as they stood in the dock. Many of them said they had forgotten to wear the belts and asked for forgiveness.
“My lord, I was arrested while driving a lorry. Many of them do not have safety belts, but I will ensure that one is fixed,†a man said.
Tibulya warned the motorists,
saying she would send them to jail if they appeared again over the same offences.
Regional traffic chief Kampala Extra Gabriel Tibayungwa reaffirmed the will of the Police to enforce the new measures and warned that the operation was just the beginning of an ongoing exercise.
“We will sensitise them by taking them to court to show them what the failure to comply with the new measures can lead to,†Tibayungwa said.
He warned that excuses such as seat belts are dirty and can soil attire would not be entertained.
The crack-down was to enforce some of the new road safety measures. Others will be enforced after the 90 days grace period, in which all passenger service vehicle (PSV) owners are expected to fit their vehicles with seat belts and speed governors.
Tibayungwa said the grace period
lapses on October 1, when the express penalty scheme is expected to cover the whole country.
Yesterday’s operation mainly targeted saloon cars but the Police warned that even passengers in the co-driver’s seats in PSVs would be arrested and charged if they did not comply with the rules.
In some city suburbs, the Police took photographs of the motorists as evidence against them in traffic courts and to be used for future reference.
“We took photographs to serve as evidence in case they tried to deny the charges,†Kawempe traffic chief Paul Baguma said.
THE Buganda Road Court yesterday convicted 150 motorists of driving without using safety belts and speaking on phones, as the Police began implementing the new road safety rules.
Magistrate Margaret Tibulya cautioned the motorists after each of them pleaded guilty to the charges.
The motorists, who were arrested in an early morning one-hour operation on major roads leading in and out of the city, looked remorseful as they stood in the dock. Many of them said they had forgotten to wear the belts and asked for forgiveness.
“My lord, I was arrested while driving a lorry. Many of them do not have safety belts, but I will ensure that one is fixed,†a man said.
Tibulya warned the motorists,
saying she would send them to jail if they appeared again over the same offences.
Regional traffic chief Kampala Extra Gabriel Tibayungwa reaffirmed the will of the Police to enforce the new measures and warned that the operation was just the beginning of an ongoing exercise.
“We will sensitise them by taking them to court to show them what the failure to comply with the new measures can lead to,†Tibayungwa said.
He warned that excuses such as seat belts are dirty and can soil attire would not be entertained.
The crack-down was to enforce some of the new road safety measures. Others will be enforced after the 90 days grace period, in which all passenger service vehicle (PSV) owners are expected to fit their vehicles with seat belts and speed governors.
Tibayungwa said the grace period
lapses on October 1, when the express penalty scheme is expected to cover the whole country.
Yesterday’s operation mainly targeted saloon cars but the Police warned that even passengers in the co-driver’s seats in PSVs would be arrested and charged if they did not comply with the rules.
In some city suburbs, the Police took photographs of the motorists as evidence against them in traffic courts and to be used for future reference.
“We took photographs to serve as evidence in case they tried to deny the charges,†Kawempe traffic chief Paul Baguma said.