Road carnage: 35 dead, 114 injured in three days

The traffic police have revealed that 104 road crashes were registered around the country between December 30, 2022 and January 1.

A statement released by the Traffic Police spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Faridah Nampiima, yesterday revealed that 28 of the accidents led to loss of lives.

“…49 were serious [accidents] and 27 were minor from December 30, 2022 to January 1. Out of 104 road crashes, we registered 149 victims, 35 died and 114 sustained serious injuries,” the statement read in part.

It added: “Motorcyclists account for the highest number of persons killed, contributing to 28.57 percent followed by pedestrian who account for 25.27 percent, passengers in other vehicles 14.26 percent, passengers in heavy omnibus and passengers on motorcycles account for 11.43 percent each,  drivers 5.71 percent, pedal cyclists 2.86 percent and passengers in little and medium omnibus account for 0 percent.”

According to the statement, the biggest cause of the  accidents was reckless driving where 20 fatal, 39 serious injuries and 17 minor accidents were registered.

Careless driving accounted for two serious and 10 minor injuries and four people perished as a result of unknown causes while eight others sustained serious injuries.

One victim fell off a vehicle while another is said to have been a careless pedestrian and two died due to crashes resulting from speeding.

ASP Nampima stated that the Kampala Metropolitan area recorded 49 accidents, of which 10 were fatal while 55 were recorded upcountry with 18 fatal.

According to the 2021 Annual Crime and Traffic/Road Safety Report, 4,159 road accident fatalities nationwide were recorded. Of these 1,390 involved motorcycle riders while 528 were passengers on motorcycles

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