The grim toll of road fatalities in Uganda has surged, with traffic police statistics revealing an alarming rise from 12 to 13 deaths daily on the nation’s roads.
Presenting data, Lawrence Niwabiine, Acting Director of Traffic Police, disclosed that 4,806 Ugandans lost their lives in road crashes in 2023, marking a notable increase from the 4,534 deaths recorded in the preceding year.
Of the total fatalities, pedestrians accounted for 1,675 deaths, motorcyclists 1,520, motorcycle passengers 614, vehicle passengers 324, and drivers 232. The figures highlight a concerning uptick in pedestrian deaths from 1,579 in 2022 to 1,675 in 2023, alongside a rise in motorcycle fatalities from 1,404 to 1,520.
Similarly, motorcycle passenger deaths climbed from 552 to 614, while driver fatalities surged from 198. Beyond the grim rise in fatalities, statistics indicate a surge in life-threatening injuries, escalating from 15,227 in 2022 to 16,736 in 2023.
Traffic data reveals that private vehicles accounted for the highest number of road crashes in 2023 at 2,0210, followed by unknown vehicles at 1,254, foreign-registered vehicles at 846, central government vehicles at 255, NGO vehicles at 147, police vehicles at 91, army vehicles at 76, and prisons vehicles at 11.
Niwabiine emphasized that prevalent traffic offenses predominantly revolved around driving vehicles in hazardous mechanical conditions, witnessing an increase from 92,029 in 2022 to 99,068 in 2023. Additionally, obstruction of roads due to loading or offloading surged from 20,063 incidents in 2022 to 95,676 in 2023.
Reacting to the distressing trend, Sam Bambanza, Executive Director of Hope for Victims of Traffic Accidents (HOVITA), underscored the urgent need for heightened road sensitization, vehicle inspection, and road user protection, particularly for pedestrians.
“The escalating toll of road fatalities underscores the imperative for collective action to ensure road safety. The loss of predominantly young lives, including children and those in their productive years, is a tragic setback for our nation. We cannot advance as a country while losing our youth to road crashes every day,” Bambanza lamented.