Improved roads are not the problem
Jun 23, 2009
THE works minister, John Nasasira, has observed that improved roads are increasing accidents in Uganda. He said this last week in Mukono during a training workshop for drivers on road safety. Accidents increased from 5,674 in 1990 to 17,422 in 2007, while
THE works minister, John Nasasira, has observed that improved roads are increasing accidents in Uganda. He said this last week in Mukono during a training workshop for drivers on road safety. Accidents increased from 5,674 in 1990 to 17,422 in 2007, while the number of deaths shot from 778 to 2,334 during the same period.
Nasasira acknowledged that Uganda has one of the highest number of road accidents in the world. Improved roads should come with positive results and not with sad news of the dead and maimed.
Developed countries, which have much better roads than Uganda’s, would have more accidents if good roads were the cause. Accidents in Uganda are not caused by “smooth roads†as the minister suggests.
According to the 2008 Police report, one of the most common causes of accidents in Uganda is bad roads.
Secondly, Nasasira himself has observed that the Highway Code developed in 2005 to guide motorists has not been disseminated. Driving schools in this country are not under strict Police supervision and it is common for drivers in Uganda to ‘learn on the job’. Drivers’ recklessness and vehicles in poor mechanical condition are some of the common causes of accidents. For example, five people died in a taxi in Iganga on Thursday last week as a result of the driver’s recklessness. The five people who lost their lives at Kasubi on Friday were hit by a taxi which was in a poor mechanical condition. Drink-driving is another problem. Such accidents would be prevented if the authorities concerned did not give in to corruption.
Police intervention has tended to mitigate rather than reduce accidents. In order to bring sanity to our roads, the Police must enforce the law rigorously. What became of the speed governor law? The public must also play a more active role. Passengers have a right to arrest errant drivers who put people’s lives at risk. It is time to rein in carnage on Uganda’s roads.
Nasasira acknowledged that Uganda has one of the highest number of road accidents in the world. Improved roads should come with positive results and not with sad news of the dead and maimed.
Developed countries, which have much better roads than Uganda’s, would have more accidents if good roads were the cause. Accidents in Uganda are not caused by “smooth roads†as the minister suggests.
According to the 2008 Police report, one of the most common causes of accidents in Uganda is bad roads.
Secondly, Nasasira himself has observed that the Highway Code developed in 2005 to guide motorists has not been disseminated. Driving schools in this country are not under strict Police supervision and it is common for drivers in Uganda to ‘learn on the job’. Drivers’ recklessness and vehicles in poor mechanical condition are some of the common causes of accidents. For example, five people died in a taxi in Iganga on Thursday last week as a result of the driver’s recklessness. The five people who lost their lives at Kasubi on Friday were hit by a taxi which was in a poor mechanical condition. Drink-driving is another problem. Such accidents would be prevented if the authorities concerned did not give in to corruption.
Police intervention has tended to mitigate rather than reduce accidents. In order to bring sanity to our roads, the Police must enforce the law rigorously. What became of the speed governor law? The public must also play a more active role. Passengers have a right to arrest errant drivers who put people’s lives at risk. It is time to rein in carnage on Uganda’s roads.