Road safety: Let’s all act responsibly

The story of Constable Micha Muhindo, a traffic officer, and Evester Akello, a 16-year-old student at Amach Secondary School in Lira District, who died following a road crash on December 15 on the Lira-Soroti Highway, is sad but not new. (See  “Traffic officer among three killed in Lira road crash”, Daily Monitor of December 15, 2022)

These kinds of news stories take up considerable space in various news outlets because of their frequency, especially now that the festive season is here.

 On Friday, health officials at Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital disclosed that the hospital handles close to five victims of boda boda accidents daily, especially during wee hours.

And according to police statistics, from October 1 to 29, 1,378 accidents were registered on different roads across the country and of these, 227 accidents were fatal, 705 were serious, and 446 minor. In these accidents, 1,232 victims were involved and of these, 257 people died and 975 sustained injuries.

The festive season is synonymous with a lot of movement, with many travelling upcountry to join their families for the holidays. 

This is peppered with the merrymaking that comes with abuse of alcohol, which then culminates into drink-driving regardless of the numerous calls of caution from police and other stakeholders to drive carefully. This happens every year and yet for some reason we have failed to change the bizarre trend. 

The police roadblocks and crackdowns of errant or unlicensed drivers, vehicles in poor mechanical condition, among others, is commendable as it helps restore a certain degree of safety on the road. But, must we always be policed to act responsibly?  

When there is lack of personal responsibility, the police can only do so much as they can’t cover every inch of road in the country. The onus is, therefore, on every single road user to ensure their safety and that of others. 

If you are a passenger, do not sit idly by as a reckless driver risks your life because of speeding or disregarding road regulations. If you are a driver, do not wait to be policed, it is your life after all, not the traffic police’s. 

If that boda boda is hell-bent on showing off his skills in a death race, tell him off or get off. Wear the seat belt, it could be the one that saves you from being another cast member in a fatalities script. 

If your definition of the holidays is not complete without alcohol consumption, get a designated sober driver, whatever you do, don’t drink and drive. Be proactive, not just this festive season but even after it is long gone.  If there is communal road discipline, those grim police statistics would be a thing of the past or at least considerably better.