Govt cautions road users ahead of festive season

Government, through the Ministry of Works and Transport, together with traffic police, have cautioned road users, especially drivers, motorcyclists and pedestrians, to be extra careful while using the roads during the forthcoming Christmas and end of year festive fetes.

While addressing the media in Kampala yesterday on the pre-launch of the road safety week that is starting today, the commissioner for transport regulation and safety at the Transport ministry, Mr Winston Katushabe, revealed that government is set to intensify its operations to crackdown on errant road users amid the busy festive seasons.

Among others, Mr Kutushabe emphasised that the ministry has made arrangements with the police and courts of law where all errant road users will not be issued with the Express Penalty Scheme (EPS) tickets but will be kept in police custody before trial until the end of the New Year fete.

“Drivers found in breach of the traffic regulations during this period will not be given an EPS, they will keep you safely and your relatives will see you after the New Year when you are being prosecuted for respective offences,” he said.

“Since it is a rainy season and you are all aware of the nature of our roads, we have also advised all motorists to avoid travelling at night, where possible park for only 12 hours and embark on your journey safely during day time,” he added.

Police statistics indicate that at least 120 people were reported to have died in road crashes during last year’s Christmas and New Year festival period.

Speaking at the same media briefing, Mr Micheal Kananura, the spokesperson of police’s Directorate of Traffic and Road Safety, revealed that the state of road safety in the country is already worrying, with at least 12 people losing lives in road crashes per day.

Against this tragic background, Mr Kananura noted that police will intensify its enforcement of traffic rules and regulations to ensure the situation is contained as people travel to various places for their festival celebrations.

“I appeal to all the road users to abide by the traffic rules and regulations to ensure safety of our roads as we approach the festive seasons,” he said.

He added that there is no single intervention that can address the challenge of road crashes and urged the public to join the campaign against reckless driving.

Meanwhile, Mr Kutushabe noted that the ministry has engaged public transport operators and urged them not to hike transport fares during the festive season.

“We hope that the transport fares will remain favourable to the passengers, we have had engagements with bus operators and other public transport operators and they have guaranteed on this matter,” he said.

The dos and don’ts to ensure road safety

Drivers

•  Ensure the vehicle is in a good mechanical condition.

•  Avoid drink-driving or use of any other drugs.

•  Avoid distracted driving such as using a mobile phone or eating while driving.

•  Avoid speeding and overloading

•  Overtaking should be done at designated areas.

•  Always use the helmets and reflector jackets [for motorcyclists].

Passengers

•  Report any element of bad driving to police.

•  Record video or take photo of errant drivers or those bribing traffic officers and report them to police.

•  Desist from boarding vehicles without seatbelts and those in poor mechanical conditions.