Africa-Press – Uganda. The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Forum on Road Safety, (PAFROS) Alex Ruhunda has urged Ugandans to appreciate and embrace the existing policies and road regulations if the country is to realise a significant reduction in the number of road crashes in Uganda.
Mr Ruhunda observed that without road regulations, Uganda becomes a difficult society to manage, which in the long run limits our stay on the planet. His comments come at a time as the Christmas season draws nearer, a time that’s characterised by an increase in road crashes.
“Laws and regulations protect your lives. They are not developed to inconvenience you. When we convene to discuss how to tackle the recklessness on our roads, don’t think we are wasting time because we have a society of people who think that laws don’t apply to them. When you make a mistake on the road because you seem to be in a hurry more than others who keep time, they are inconvenienced but your actions also end up causing road crashes,” Mr Ruhunda said.
Ruhunda, who also doubles as the Fort Portal Municipality Member of Parliament added that “Sirens are meant for ambulances that carry patients. When you (ordinary Ugandan) put sirens on your car because you want to scare others on the road, it means you are momentarily sick.”
Ruhunda made these remarks at the first national symposium organized by the Centre for Policy Analysis, under the theme, revolutionising the road safety situation, a journey towards reducing the road crash prevalence in Uganda.
Represented by Winstone Katushabe, the Commissioner of transport regulation and safety, the Minister of state for transport, Mr Fred Byamukama at the Ministry of Works and Transport, said the promotion of road safety is a shared responsibility between system designers and road users to move towards a world free from road traffic fatalities and serious injuries.
“It is important to have such engagements to find ways of changing the narrative because road crashes in Uganda remain one of the leading causes of death among the young people,” Byamukama said.
According to the 2022 Uganda Police annual crime report, there were 20,394 road crashes reported out of which 3,901 were fatal, 10,776 were serious, and 5,717 were minor. The report also says the number of fatal crashes increased by 16.9 per cent from 3,757 in 2021 to 3,901 in 2022. The number of serious crashes increased from 9,070 in 2021 to 10,776 in 2022. The number of minor crashes increased from 4,616 in 2021 to 5,717 in 2022. Overall, there was a 17 percent increase in the number of crashes reported in 2022 from 17,443 crashes in 2021 to 20,394 crashes in 2022.
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