Ugandan roads: A death trap
Dec 21, 2007
WAILS pierce the banana plantation as three coffins, for two adults and one for a one child, lie on mats, surrounded by hundreds of mourners. Minutes later, they are lowered into adjacent graves in Bungo village, Mpigi district.
By Conan Businge
WAILS pierce the banana plantation as three coffins, for two adults and one for a one child, lie on mats, surrounded by hundreds of mourners. Minutes later, they are lowered into adjacent graves in Bungo village, Mpigi district.
Frank Mulondo, his sister Pros Namalwa and little Daisy died together with four others last weekend, when their Toyota Corolla AE100 (kikumi) rammed into a train at a railway crossing on Tirinyi Road between Iganga and Mbale.
Mulondo, who lost his wife in the same accident, is survived by a son, Amos Simbwa, in senior two. Namalwa has left behind a five-year-old daughter.
Mulondo and Namalwa are victims of a growing tragedy. According to Police records, 2196 people were killed on the spot and 31,626 injured in 76,498 accidents in seven years from 2000 to 2006.
This is higher than the number of people killed by the LRA in the north in as many years. It is also higher than the number killed by ebola in the world since 1976 when it was discovered.
Yet the actual death toll from road traffic accidents is higher than that released by the Police, because they do not include accident victims who die later in hospital wards. One million lives are lost and 20 million casualties are registered annually worldwide. However, 75% of them are in developing countries, yet they account for only 32% of the vehicle population.
Steven Kasiima, the acting commissioner in charge of traffic, says most accidents occur because drivers do not obey traffic regulations.
For instance, speeding causes up to 70% of accidents. “Many people drive without licenses. Most of them don’t follow regulations. They get their licenses through forgeries.â€
He adds: “Drivers also get fatigued as a result of driving long distances. Truck drivers, especially of fuel tanks, drive under the influence of drugs like marijuana and end up killing masses of people in accidents.â€
Several road safety campaigns have been launched in recent years but they have not brought down accident rates. These include use of seatbelts, speed governors, breathalysers to check drunk driving, use of helmets and express penalty schemes.
Paul Musaazi, a taxi driver on Kampala-Jinja highway, looks at the safety campaigns as fundraising projects for police officers, whom he accuses of taking bribes from offenders.
“These campaigns are set up to facilitate some people’s businesses. After making profits, the campaigns die out,†he says.
However, Asan Kasingye, the Police spokesperson, says the public has let down the Police.
He gave the example of enforcing the law on seatbelts. “We should have had sufficient sensitisation campaigns before implementing these road safety measures. In developed countries people own these measures but here, people fight them.â€
The traffic chief for Kampala Extra, Lawrence Niwabiine, says they face challenges on major projects. For instance, lack of a data system has hindered implementation of the Express Penalty Scheme, which gives traffic officers the authority to fine road traffic offenders on the spot. Some offenders walk away with invoices but do not go to the bank to pay.
The Police, says Niwabiine, needs a computerised system to record and track details of offenders and their vehicles. “The data system is poor, so vehicles cannot be tracked down easily by the Police and URA.â€
He adds that there is little motivation for traffic officers since the money collected is not used to facilitate them or buy them equipment. They have no ambulances and use patrol trucks to transport accident victims to hospital.
Early last year, the Police launched several operations against passenger vehicles without speed governors. But soon after, it was time for the presidential elections.
The Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association officials used that opportunity to complain to the President about the new law and a directive was passed to halt it.
Another campaign that flopped was that on seatbelts. The Police used to stop vehicles and commuters to ensure all passengers had seatbelts on. Breathalysers, which had reduced drink driving last year, are hardly used today. Niwabiine refuses to discuss why.
He says they are going to crack down on vehicles in poor mechanical condition.
They are in talks with the Government to provide more money more traffic lights at major city road junctions. They also plan to educate vehicle owners to fix first aid kits in their vehicles to be used in case of emergencies. This will be in addition to the on-spot operations to net offenders.
CHRONOLOGY OF SOME OF THE WORST ROAD ACCIDENTS IN RECENT YEARS
December 17, 2007
A family of seven perished in a road accident last Sunday. Their saloon car rammed into a train at a railway crossing on the Tirinyi highway at Butongole near Nawangisa trading centre.
December 9, 2007
Three pedestrians were killed by a trailer at Magodes Trading Centre on the Mbale-Tororo highway. The driver of the Tororo Cement trailer had tried in vain to avoid knocking a teenage girl down.
November 19, 2007
A Police patrol vehicle knocked a student dead on Jinja Road near Shoprite, next to UMA Showground, Lugogo.
August 9, 2007
Seven people were killed when a Fuso lorry and a Mbarara-bound Ibabu coach collided head-on near Mpigi district headquarters on the Kampala-Masaka highway at 6:30pm. Most victims died on the spot. the injured were rushed to health centres after they were pulled out of the death trap. The lorry, heading to Kampala, was carrying cattle.
May 24, 2007
The Mpigi district inspector of schools, Francis Xavier Kalinda, died in an early morning accident at Kyengera on the Kampala-Masaka highway. According to the Police, Kalinda’s double cabin pick-up truck rammed into a stationary fuel trailer.
April 9, 2007
Six members of a disco crew died on the spot and others were injured when a tyre of their taxi burst. The vehicle overturned near Katonga Bridge on the Kampala-Masaka highway. The team from Lion’s Club in Bwaise was returning from an Easter Monday performance at Masaka’s Ambience Discotheque.
February 19, 2007
Four people, including a three-year-old boy, died when their minibus overturned. one of its tyres burst at Bukoona, on the Iganga-Tirinyi-Mbale highway in Iganga district. Twelve passengers of the minibus were admitted to Iganga hospital in critical condition.
February 5, 2007
Eight students travelling to school were involved in an accident on Masaka road. Four of those injured near Nabajjuzi swamp were teenagers from one family. Their father sustained serious injuries.
May 25, 2006
Fifteen people died, nine of them on the spot, in a grisly road accident on the Kampala-Masaka highway. The 7:30pm crash near Buwama in Mpigi district involved a commuter taxi and a trailer.
January 9, 2006
A priest with the R Krishna faith was killed in an accident on the Kampala-Masaka highway. Viri Basi, 55, a Briton of Indian origin, died on the spot in the 11:00am hit-and-run accident near Katonga Bridge.
October 24, 2005
Former privatisation state minister Manzi Tumubweine and three others were seriously injured in a head-on collision with a bus. The accident occurred at Muchomo on the Masaka-Mbarara highway when a BTC coach tried to overtake two vehicles at a bend.
August 16, 2005
Two people died on the spot and several others sustained injuries when a speeding coach rammed into a fleet of vehicles at Tenga swamp, about 9km on the Masaka-Kampala highway. The accident occurred when a Kasese-bound Isuzu coach rammed into vehicles stuck in a jam due to thick smoke that had covered the entire road.
April 12, 2005
Eight people and seven cows died when a Fuso lorry overturned after one of its tyres burst. Witnesses said the speeding lorry, loaded with cattle and people, was heading to Kampala from sembabule. The accident occurred at kampiringisa in Mpigi district, 35km on Masaka-Kampala road.
January 15, 2005
Blood and broken glass littered the Masaka highway at Lwera, when Kayunga LC5 councillor Joseph Yiga Mukasa died in a crash on his way home from President Yoweri Museveni’s home in Rwakitura.
November 25, 2004
A Canter truck ran into Imbalu dancers in Mbale leaving 40 people injured. A commuter taxi and other three vehicles were involved in the accident.
February 18, 2004
Forty two people were killed in an accident at Lwankima in Mabira Forest.
January 27, 2004
Eight people died on the spot in an accident in Lwera on the Kampala-Masaka highway, when a coach hit a taxi and split it into two.
November 20, 2003
An elderly Rwandese woman was killed when two speeding vehicles collided on Mbarara-Masaka road.
COMPILED BY CONAN BUSINGE
HOW TO AVOID ACCIDENTS
Drivers
Check tyres before you start the engine
When approaching an intersection always look left, right and forward then proceed cautiously, even when you have the right of way.
Always look in the driving mirror before over-taking or turning.
Do not overtake until you are sure there is enough space for you to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming vehicle.
In a traffic jam, maintain a safe distance by ensuring you can see the bottom of the rear tyre of the car in front of you.
Do not speed. The limit on highways is 100km/hr.
Avoid drink-driving.
Always ensure your breaking lights, indicators and headlamps are working before you embark on a journey.
Make sure you and every passenger wears a seatbelt.
Children should always be in the back.
Pedestrians
Do not cross the street alone if you
are younger than 10 years.
Always try to walk on paths or side walks. If there are none, walk on the right hand side of the road so that you see the cars on your side approaching.
Look left and right before crossing
and keep checking until you are on the other side
Walk, do not run, into the street
Dress in bright or reflective clothes so that drivers can see you easily
Wait for drivers to stop and make eye contact before crossing a street. Don't assume that they can see you.
Use the right crossing points or zebra crossing and follow traffic signals.
When crossing at a green light, watch all directions for turning cars
Do not speak, or read text messages on phone while crossing a road
Cyclists
Avoid riding a motorcycle when you are under the influence of alcohol.
Do not ride between slow moving
vehicles.
Recognise and follow the traffic rules and ordinances.
Reduce the noise produced by the motorcycle.
Utilise signals whenever necessary.
Be cautious especially at intersections
Always check the side mirrors for possible oncoming vehicles
Look out for road hazards and defects as well as traffic problems ahead.
Always be in a position where other motorists can clearly see you
Maintain a safe speed that can let you control the bike
Wear protective gears such as a helmet, jackets, proper footwear and gloves
Avoid zigzagging on the road
Look both ways for oncoming vehicles before turning or crossing a street
Inflate tires properly
Ensure your breaks are working before you take off
Ride behind and not beside other
cycles
Compiled by Conan Businge
WAILS pierce the banana plantation as three coffins, for two adults and one for a one child, lie on mats, surrounded by hundreds of mourners. Minutes later, they are lowered into adjacent graves in Bungo village, Mpigi district.
Frank Mulondo, his sister Pros Namalwa and little Daisy died together with four others last weekend, when their Toyota Corolla AE100 (kikumi) rammed into a train at a railway crossing on Tirinyi Road between Iganga and Mbale.
Mulondo, who lost his wife in the same accident, is survived by a son, Amos Simbwa, in senior two. Namalwa has left behind a five-year-old daughter.
Mulondo and Namalwa are victims of a growing tragedy. According to Police records, 2196 people were killed on the spot and 31,626 injured in 76,498 accidents in seven years from 2000 to 2006.
This is higher than the number of people killed by the LRA in the north in as many years. It is also higher than the number killed by ebola in the world since 1976 when it was discovered.
Yet the actual death toll from road traffic accidents is higher than that released by the Police, because they do not include accident victims who die later in hospital wards. One million lives are lost and 20 million casualties are registered annually worldwide. However, 75% of them are in developing countries, yet they account for only 32% of the vehicle population.
Steven Kasiima, the acting commissioner in charge of traffic, says most accidents occur because drivers do not obey traffic regulations.
For instance, speeding causes up to 70% of accidents. “Many people drive without licenses. Most of them don’t follow regulations. They get their licenses through forgeries.â€
He adds: “Drivers also get fatigued as a result of driving long distances. Truck drivers, especially of fuel tanks, drive under the influence of drugs like marijuana and end up killing masses of people in accidents.â€
Several road safety campaigns have been launched in recent years but they have not brought down accident rates. These include use of seatbelts, speed governors, breathalysers to check drunk driving, use of helmets and express penalty schemes.
Paul Musaazi, a taxi driver on Kampala-Jinja highway, looks at the safety campaigns as fundraising projects for police officers, whom he accuses of taking bribes from offenders.
“These campaigns are set up to facilitate some people’s businesses. After making profits, the campaigns die out,†he says.
However, Asan Kasingye, the Police spokesperson, says the public has let down the Police.
He gave the example of enforcing the law on seatbelts. “We should have had sufficient sensitisation campaigns before implementing these road safety measures. In developed countries people own these measures but here, people fight them.â€
The traffic chief for Kampala Extra, Lawrence Niwabiine, says they face challenges on major projects. For instance, lack of a data system has hindered implementation of the Express Penalty Scheme, which gives traffic officers the authority to fine road traffic offenders on the spot. Some offenders walk away with invoices but do not go to the bank to pay.
The Police, says Niwabiine, needs a computerised system to record and track details of offenders and their vehicles. “The data system is poor, so vehicles cannot be tracked down easily by the Police and URA.â€
He adds that there is little motivation for traffic officers since the money collected is not used to facilitate them or buy them equipment. They have no ambulances and use patrol trucks to transport accident victims to hospital.
Early last year, the Police launched several operations against passenger vehicles without speed governors. But soon after, it was time for the presidential elections.
The Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association officials used that opportunity to complain to the President about the new law and a directive was passed to halt it.
Another campaign that flopped was that on seatbelts. The Police used to stop vehicles and commuters to ensure all passengers had seatbelts on. Breathalysers, which had reduced drink driving last year, are hardly used today. Niwabiine refuses to discuss why.
He says they are going to crack down on vehicles in poor mechanical condition.
They are in talks with the Government to provide more money more traffic lights at major city road junctions. They also plan to educate vehicle owners to fix first aid kits in their vehicles to be used in case of emergencies. This will be in addition to the on-spot operations to net offenders.
CHRONOLOGY OF SOME OF THE WORST ROAD ACCIDENTS IN RECENT YEARS
December 17, 2007
A family of seven perished in a road accident last Sunday. Their saloon car rammed into a train at a railway crossing on the Tirinyi highway at Butongole near Nawangisa trading centre.
December 9, 2007
Three pedestrians were killed by a trailer at Magodes Trading Centre on the Mbale-Tororo highway. The driver of the Tororo Cement trailer had tried in vain to avoid knocking a teenage girl down.
November 19, 2007
A Police patrol vehicle knocked a student dead on Jinja Road near Shoprite, next to UMA Showground, Lugogo.
August 9, 2007
Seven people were killed when a Fuso lorry and a Mbarara-bound Ibabu coach collided head-on near Mpigi district headquarters on the Kampala-Masaka highway at 6:30pm. Most victims died on the spot. the injured were rushed to health centres after they were pulled out of the death trap. The lorry, heading to Kampala, was carrying cattle.
May 24, 2007
The Mpigi district inspector of schools, Francis Xavier Kalinda, died in an early morning accident at Kyengera on the Kampala-Masaka highway. According to the Police, Kalinda’s double cabin pick-up truck rammed into a stationary fuel trailer.
April 9, 2007
Six members of a disco crew died on the spot and others were injured when a tyre of their taxi burst. The vehicle overturned near Katonga Bridge on the Kampala-Masaka highway. The team from Lion’s Club in Bwaise was returning from an Easter Monday performance at Masaka’s Ambience Discotheque.
February 19, 2007
Four people, including a three-year-old boy, died when their minibus overturned. one of its tyres burst at Bukoona, on the Iganga-Tirinyi-Mbale highway in Iganga district. Twelve passengers of the minibus were admitted to Iganga hospital in critical condition.
February 5, 2007
Eight students travelling to school were involved in an accident on Masaka road. Four of those injured near Nabajjuzi swamp were teenagers from one family. Their father sustained serious injuries.
May 25, 2006
Fifteen people died, nine of them on the spot, in a grisly road accident on the Kampala-Masaka highway. The 7:30pm crash near Buwama in Mpigi district involved a commuter taxi and a trailer.
January 9, 2006
A priest with the R Krishna faith was killed in an accident on the Kampala-Masaka highway. Viri Basi, 55, a Briton of Indian origin, died on the spot in the 11:00am hit-and-run accident near Katonga Bridge.
October 24, 2005
Former privatisation state minister Manzi Tumubweine and three others were seriously injured in a head-on collision with a bus. The accident occurred at Muchomo on the Masaka-Mbarara highway when a BTC coach tried to overtake two vehicles at a bend.
August 16, 2005
Two people died on the spot and several others sustained injuries when a speeding coach rammed into a fleet of vehicles at Tenga swamp, about 9km on the Masaka-Kampala highway. The accident occurred when a Kasese-bound Isuzu coach rammed into vehicles stuck in a jam due to thick smoke that had covered the entire road.
April 12, 2005
Eight people and seven cows died when a Fuso lorry overturned after one of its tyres burst. Witnesses said the speeding lorry, loaded with cattle and people, was heading to Kampala from sembabule. The accident occurred at kampiringisa in Mpigi district, 35km on Masaka-Kampala road.
January 15, 2005
Blood and broken glass littered the Masaka highway at Lwera, when Kayunga LC5 councillor Joseph Yiga Mukasa died in a crash on his way home from President Yoweri Museveni’s home in Rwakitura.
November 25, 2004
A Canter truck ran into Imbalu dancers in Mbale leaving 40 people injured. A commuter taxi and other three vehicles were involved in the accident.
February 18, 2004
Forty two people were killed in an accident at Lwankima in Mabira Forest.
January 27, 2004
Eight people died on the spot in an accident in Lwera on the Kampala-Masaka highway, when a coach hit a taxi and split it into two.
November 20, 2003
An elderly Rwandese woman was killed when two speeding vehicles collided on Mbarara-Masaka road.
COMPILED BY CONAN BUSINGE
HOW TO AVOID ACCIDENTS
Drivers
Pedestrians
are younger than 10 years.
and keep checking until you are on the other side
Cyclists
vehicles.
cycles
Compiled by Conan Businge