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Report names accident blackspots in Kampala
What you need to know:
The revelations are captured in the Kampala Annual Road Safety report, which recorded incidents over the last two years.
A latest report on road safety in Kampala has revealed that most traffic accidents in the country’s capital occur at roundabouts and street junctions during the night.
Researchers discovered that people lost, and continue to lose their lives in fatal crashes, which occurred mainly between 6 and 10pm rush hours.
The revelations are captured in the Kampala Annual Road Safety report, which recorded incidents over the last two years.
Not surprisingly, the report launched by city authorities yesterday confirms the unfortunate reality that most victims are motorcyclists -- believed to be largely boda boda riders, notorious for their reckless behaviour on the roads.
The roundabouts at Kalerwe and Sentema, alongside the Mbogo-Najjera junction, are listed as the top three blackspots in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan area. At least 33 people perished in separate road traffic accidents at the three spots between 2019 and 2021.
In the period, at least 13 were killed at Kalerwe roundabout, while 11 and 10 people did not survive crashes at Sentema roundabout and Mbogo-Najjera junction, respectively.
Closely following the top three high risk junctions are Nakulabye intersection (9 deaths); Bwaise flyover (9) and Bwaise roundabout (8).
Other deaths occurred along Access Road and Jinja Road junction (7); Salaama and Entebbe roads (7); Kisaasi-Kyanja junction (7) and the Nsooba-Kyebando flyover (6).
Notably, seven out of the 10 high risk crash spots are located along the Northern Bypass, a modern motorway notorious for hair-raising speeding by motorists and motorcyclists alike.
Report statistics indicate that 49 percent of last year’s road traffic accident victims were motorcyclists, followed by pedestrians at 42 percent. Vehicle occupants and ordinary cyclists stood at six and one percent, respectively.
“Pedestrian deaths increased from 162 in 2021 to 185 in 2022 while motorcyclist deaths marginally dropped from 212 in 2021 to 210 in 2022,” the report reads.
“At 60 percent, motorcyclists made up the highest proportion of seriously injured victims in 2022. These are followed by pedestrians at 30 percent and vehicle occupants at 8 percent. Injured bicyclists formed only 2 percent,” it added.
Importance of data
At yesterday’s launch, the acting director for traffic and road safety, Senior Commissioner of Police Lawrence Nuwabiine, appreciated the data as a tool for urgent action.
“This report is well detailed and it is very clear that the road crash and crash-related deaths are very worrying, we need to meet and develop a firm collaboration with all stakeholders to form a force that can agitate for road safety reforms in this country,” he said.
“We need to actualise our National Road Safety Action Plan and all other regulations because the information in this report is an eye opener to show that we need to have serious interventions as quickly as possible,” he added. Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago said time to take firm action is now through clear leadership.
“We must have a lead agency specifically focusing on road safety, let it be housed under the ministry of works or anywhere else but we need it. Apparently, we have failed to feel the impact of the department in charge because it focuses on a lot of things,” he said.
He echoed earlier calls for a law regulating public transport, saying that “it is very unfortunate that up to now the government has failed to come up with a law to regulate the operations of boda bodas which are all over the city.”
“As KCCA we have an ordinance still in the pipeline that will be used to regulate boda boda operations,” the lord mayor promised.
Mr Joseph Beyanga, alias Joe Walker, a road safety activist, told this publication that road crashes, especially at the roundabouts and junctions, are as a result of poor road designs, inadequate education of road users and insufficient enforcement of traffic regulations.
