Mobile phones can reduce road carnage
Oct 08, 2008
IN Uganda, every one in five people owns a mobile phone. These phones can be used in community policing. Road traffic accidents continue to cause preventable disabilities and deaths partly because the Police are thin on the ground or ineffective.
Ronald Kasyaba
IN Uganda, every one in five people owns a mobile phone. These phones can be used in community policing. Road traffic accidents continue to cause preventable disabilities and deaths partly because the Police are thin on the ground or ineffective.
However, there is increasing appreciation of individual responsibility to ensure their neighbour’s security or that of their property. Thus, the public is no longer leaving the responsibility solely to security agencies.
The cellular phone comes in handy in assisting traffic agencies to prevent injuries and deaths on the road.
The World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO) are advocating the involvement of road users in curbing road carnage.
The Police should make use of mobile phones among road users to reduce traffic offences. Gadgets should be installed at Police stations and along major highways where the Police can quickly receive text messages from passengers. The Police would also have to widely publicise the numbers where travellers can send the text messages.
If messages move through Police communication networks as quickly as the reckless motorists, the Police could position themselves at strategic points along highways and intercept traffic offenders.
Most survivors of accidents usually say they observed reckless driving prior to the accident but either kept quiet to avoid enraging the driver or their pleas fell on deaf ears. Sending alarm bells to a text machine at a Police station along the road can save many lives.
Passengers will find it easier to send messages as compared to calling 999 because calling involves alerting the adamant driver.
Lawyers can advise on whether text messages are admissible in court as evidence in the event of prosecution.
The views of regular passengers and traffic Police officers should be sought about this idea and if found feasible it should be taken up by the relevant authorities. I believe it would help catch some errant motorists.
The writer is a doctor at the Kabale Regional Referral Hospital
IN Uganda, every one in five people owns a mobile phone. These phones can be used in community policing. Road traffic accidents continue to cause preventable disabilities and deaths partly because the Police are thin on the ground or ineffective.
However, there is increasing appreciation of individual responsibility to ensure their neighbour’s security or that of their property. Thus, the public is no longer leaving the responsibility solely to security agencies.
The cellular phone comes in handy in assisting traffic agencies to prevent injuries and deaths on the road.
The World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO) are advocating the involvement of road users in curbing road carnage.
The Police should make use of mobile phones among road users to reduce traffic offences. Gadgets should be installed at Police stations and along major highways where the Police can quickly receive text messages from passengers. The Police would also have to widely publicise the numbers where travellers can send the text messages.
If messages move through Police communication networks as quickly as the reckless motorists, the Police could position themselves at strategic points along highways and intercept traffic offenders.
Most survivors of accidents usually say they observed reckless driving prior to the accident but either kept quiet to avoid enraging the driver or their pleas fell on deaf ears. Sending alarm bells to a text machine at a Police station along the road can save many lives.
Passengers will find it easier to send messages as compared to calling 999 because calling involves alerting the adamant driver.
Lawyers can advise on whether text messages are admissible in court as evidence in the event of prosecution.
The views of regular passengers and traffic Police officers should be sought about this idea and if found feasible it should be taken up by the relevant authorities. I believe it would help catch some errant motorists.
The writer is a doctor at the Kabale Regional Referral Hospital