Police Rejects Bus Drivers’ Request For Return Trips
Bus Operators will not make return trips to upcountry destinations
Bus drivers who use upcountry routes will not be allowed to make return trips during this busy festive season, Police has ordered.
Assistant commissioner of police in-charge of traffic in the Kampala Metropolitan region Mr Lawrence Niwabiine on Monday maintained that the limit on return trips for drivers will not be lifted.
On Monday bus operators went on strike to protest the ban that limits them from making return trips, a move that left many passengers stranded, however, according to Niwabiine, the ban will remain in place to check reckless driving.
He also added that the law does not allow return trips for any journey above 300kms.
The bus operators protested saying they needed to make those trips to service their loans.
Uganda has a poor road safety record, over the weekend, 10 people lost their lives while 25 were left nursing wounds due to road accidents.
During the festive season, bus operators take advantage of people travelling upcountry to celebrate with family and friends by hiking prices and making return trips which puts passengers’ lives in danger.
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Rejecting bus driver’s request for return trips may not stop the road accidents without establishing other route causes. The Uganda Police has to a greater extent contributed to the road carnage mainly due to rampant corruption in the traffic police. On daily basis, traffic police officers are sent on errand with receipt books to collect money from each and every commercial vehicle that comes their way. With or without a fault, they have to give “KITU KIDOGO”. Very often you see a Trafic Police officer harriedly crossing a road simply because he has seen a loaded track coming from the opposite side. This practice has denied owners of commercial vehicles including buses to save enough money to service the vehicles as the remaining balance will be competed for by the owner, driver, conductor and the meachanic etc. More often the merchanic is left out in order to please the owner and the vehicles driven in dagerous merchanical condition until fatal accidents take them off the road. Take it or leave it as long as Mr Kayihura plans to pay police salaries from the road fines the road carnage will not stop because this is one of the avenues that denie car owners money to carry out the necessary repairs and to service the vehicles. Can you imagine a fuso track losses at least Shs 100,000 every long distance trip through bribes!!!!.
PLEASE let them change drivers on return trips otherwise they are loosing out on this chance.