Bus accidents: Between the Police and drivers, who is to blame?

May 29, 2009

UGANDAN buses have become death traps. Whereas all motor vehicle accidents can cause lead to death and injury, those involving buses are in bigger numbers.

BY CHRIS KIWAWULO                

UGANDAN buses have become death traps. Whereas all motor vehicle accidents can cause lead to death and injury, those involving buses are in bigger numbers.

On January 5, 2008, two sub-county chairpersons from Kasese and a policeman died when a Kaliita bus they were travelling in overturned on the Fort Portal-Kampala highway.

On March 27, 2008, seven people died and several others sustained injuries when a bus owned by Alliaz Tours Bus Company overturned at Kingo on the Masaka-Mbarara highway. Another Gateway bus knocked a pick-up truck on the Mbarara-Kabale road on May 7 this year, killing six people and injuring 20.

On May 12, a speeding Gateway bus rammed into a taxi on the Tirinyi highway in Iganga, killing 13 people. The same day, a bus belonging to Uganda Grace Coaches overturned on the Juba-Kampala road, 100km from Nimule leaving at least 11 people dead. On May 13, six people were injured when a Northern Tours bus travelling to Kampala hit a hippopotamus on the Karuma-Arua road junction in Amuru district.

Following this series of accidents, Police launched a crackdown on dangerous mechanical condition (DMC) buses because it was believed the accidents were due to overspeeding and poor mechanical conditions. Peter Kimalen of the Police Inspectorate Of Vehicles (IOV) department was among the officers who inspected buses that were impounded in the aftermath of the accidents. He confirmed that at least 116 buses belonging Gateway, Jussy Tours, Northern Tours and Grace Coaches were suspended from operating.

Kimalen revealed that of the four Jussy Coach buses he inspected, two were in fair condition and the two were in poor mechanical condition. These two were deregistered. Deregistering means that the vehicle registration number is plucked off and the vehicle is held at IOV in Naguru, Nakawa division.

Such operations have happened before. But the implicated bus owners tend to manoeuvre and regain their registration numbers and buses, sources revealed.

The Kampala Metropolitan Police traffic chief, Lawrence Niwabiine, said buses can get back on the road once repaired. “After inspectors deem the bus fit to carry passengers, we allow it to operate again. Those that get back on the road without clearance will be impounded,” Niwabiine explained.

However, by Tuesday only 12 of the 116 grounded buses had been returned for inspection to confirm that they are now safe, says Kimalen. He suspects the rest were put back on the road without clearance from the works ministry’s Transport Licensing Board (TLB).
 
DEFIANCE
Some bus owners are either been stubborn, connected or crafty and have managed to dodge the inspection exercise. Citing Northern Tour buses, Winstone Katushabe, the secretary of the Transport Licensing Board, said the owner did not comply when the authorities demanded to inspect his vehicles a month ago.

Among the errors discovered during the recent inspection included faulty wipers, windscreens and lack of fire extinguishers.

Transport state minister Simon Ejua said apart from checking the condition of the buses, the Police should also screen the drivers to establish their competence, authenticity and validity of their documents.

SPEED LIMIT
According to Police and transport ministry officials, speeding is one of the leading causes of bus accidents. Some bus owners encourage speed among their drivers so they make more trips and more money. Some argue that they have huge bank loans which they have to pay back.

As one of the measures to reduce speeding, Police set the normal duration of each journey so that a bus arriving at the destination earlier than expected is considered to have over-speeded.

The Police also became vigilant in using speed guns to monitor motorists. However, some motorists, especially those operating along highways, say they have successfully foiled the reading of speed guns using compact disks and metal chains strategically tied to deflect light in the path of the speed gun.

STATISTICS
Uganda has the highest number of people dying in road accidents in the Great Lakes region, which included Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, according to Police statistics.

A report presented to Parliament last year indicates that the deaths have been rising from 778 in 1990 to 2,034 in 2004, while road accidents rose to 19,528 in 2006 from 5,674 in 1990.

The Commissioner for Transport Regulations in the ministry of Works, Patrick Sanya, says accidents cost Uganda over sh333b annually. This includes losses like the cost of the vehicles, medical bills and loss of income and property.

Black spots were also blamed as contributing factors. Last March, Shell Uganda Limited launched a driver’s guide and a video, highlighting 247 accident black spots country wide. “The guide will help all the road users to detect the black spots and drive carefully to reduce fatal road accidents which have claimed many lives,” Shell country director Ivan Kyayonka said during the launch at Hotel Africana in Kampala.

According to the guide book, a total of 345 people died and 1,091 were injured at different spots on major roads between 2004 and 2006. The Kampala-Jinja Road was the most dangerous claiming 185 people and injuring 550.

The book says the Kampala-Jinja-Busia Road has the most black spots, 32, followed by Kampala-Masaka Road, 24, Kampala-Gulu with 21, Kampala-Mubende, 19, and Kampala-Hoima 17. Others include Jinja-Kamuli with 14, Karuma-Arua, 12, while Kampala-Entebbe, Mbale-Soroti, Mukono-Kayunga and Kampala-Fort Portal roads each have 10 black spots.

Masaka-Mbarara, Kampala-Mistyana-Mubende and Jinja-Iganga each have nine spots. Busitema-Malaba is the least with three spots.

HOW TO AVOID ROAD ACCIDENTS
Do not:
 speed
 drive recklessly
 overload your vehicle
 overtake in sharp corners
 drink-drive
 drive while speaking on phone
 drive when over-stressed
 drive for long periods late in the night as this is when your mind is most tired.
 set off a long journey when you are tired. If you are driving a long way, try to plan to get some sleep beforehand.
Dos:
 Carry out regular car servicing
 Respect road traffic signs
 Open car windows regularly to get some fresh air
 If you feel you need a long rest-stop, take one in a safe place
 On long journeys, stop every couple of hours for 10-15 minutes to stretch your legs and take a break.

LEADING CAUSES OF ROAD ACCIDENTS
 Reckless driving
 Careless pedestrians
 Overloading
 Drivers’ error
 Use of mobile phones while driving
 Poor road signs
 Poor road conditions

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