Police cautions motorists against reckless driving during Christmas season
Kananura warned motorists against overspeeding and overtaking in sharp corners
The police have cautioned motorists against reckless driving ahead of the Christmas season.
The spokesperson of the Directorate of Traffic and Road Safety, Michael Kananura, noted that reckless driving is common during this period, partly because of excitement.
He said that careless driving and improper overtaking are some of the leading causes of road accidents.
Kananura warned motorists against overspeeding and overtaking in sharp corners.
Last year, the Uganda Police revealed that a total of 55 people perished in road accidents across the country in just four days during the just-concluded Christmas season from December 23rd to December 26th.
Addressing journalists at the police headquarters in Naguru, the traffic police spokesperson, Faridah Nampiima, noted that the 55 people were from the 267 road accidents across the country that also left 212 other people seriously injured.
Over 3,500 traffic offenders were arrested during the same period, according to Nampiima.
She revealed that there was a slight reduction in the number of road crashes this year, from 272 in 2021 to this year’s 267 accidents.
Nampiima urged motorists and other road users, especially pedestrians, who made the most victims, to take extra care as the festive season continues.
In a bid to reduce road accidents, traffic police emphasised the need for drivers to avoid moving without triangular reflectors in their vehicles.
A triangular reflector is a warning sign usually made of plastic and metal that has a highly reflective surface and is used to alert other drivers and road users that they are approaching an unexpected stationary vehicle.
Early that year, traffic police introduced measures to curb indiscipline on the roads.
The measures included: establishing barriers at identified black spots and speeding zones that will be manned day and night; increasing motorised patrols; strengthening operations on speeding using the already deployed speed guns; carrying out operations on reckless driving; and other offences that are largely responsible for road carnage, among others.
Police said all offenders will be issued express penalty tickets except for offences of failing to stop, drink driving, and causing bodily injury, where offenders and any repeated offenders will be produced in court.
A total of 40,760 traffic violators were arrested and issued EPS tickets for various traffic offences at various checkpoints in the whole country between May 1 and May 30 this year. These included 1,855 cars, reckless driving (6,978), not wearing seat belts (3,156), invalid driving licenses (3,644, and driving without third-party insurance (3,403), among others.
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