Police have announced a massive operation around the country targeting drunk drivers and those driving past the prescribed speed limits on Ugandan roads.
The operation named ‘Fika Salama Extra’ announced jointly by the Police Force, Uganda National Roads Authority and the Ministry of Health will be carried out on Kampala Entebbe Expressway, major highways and other roads in the country will start next week and run until January 2024.
“According to global status report on road safety 2018, 1.35million people died and 50million sustained injuries globally. Developing economies record higher rates of traffic injuries with 93% of all fatalities coming from Low- and Middle-Income Countries. In Uganda we lose 12 people daily on average in traffic road crashes. It is against this background that we are launching a special intervention to reduce crashes on Ugandan roads,” traffic police spokesperson, Michael Kananura said on Friday.
Police recently said at least 2000 people have been killed in the first six months of the year 2023 as accidents continue to claim lives of people on Ugandan roads.
For example road accidents between January and July 2023 increased by 12.8% from 10,025 in the same period last year to 11312 .
According to traffic police, this worrying trend has forced them to intervene to save the situation.
“Fika Salama Extra is emphasizing and putting more effort on what has been ongoing including enforcement, road safety education and engagement with other stake holders. Fika Salama Extra checkpoints along all major highways will be re- activated from August 2023 to January 2024.”
Speed
According to the traffic police spokesperson, speed is a major risk factor and among the leading causes of crashes on Ugandan roads.
“An increase in speeds reduces your reaction time, breaking distance and stopping distance. The speed at which a vehicle travels directly influences the risk of a crash as well as the severity of injuries and likelihood of death. Therefore, enforcement is critical for achieving safe use of roads and compliance to speed limits,” Kananura said.
He said that person who drives a motor vehicles beyond the prescribed maximum speed limit commits and offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding shs2 million or imprisonment not exceeding three years or both and that at the discretion of the overall commander, the offender can be issued with an express penalty of shs200,000.
To enforce this regulation, police said they will erect speed guns as well as the use of CCTV cameras to arrest offenders.
“Traffic Police will conduct snap checks along dark spots on major highways depending on intelligence. We shall also use CCTV cameras to monitor and capture offenders. This information will be passed on to the officers at the Fika Salama Extra check points,” Kananura said.
He said habitual offenders and drivers of passenger vehicles arrested for over speeding will be taken to court for prosecution.
“Drivers that will fail to comply at the checkpoints will be blacklisted, tracked and motor vehicles will be impounded.”
Drink-driving
Police last week carried out a trial operation on drink-driving on selected Kampala roads in which 38 drivers were apprehended.
Drink-driving operations had been halted for a period of three years after the advent of the Covid pandemic for fear of the spread of the virus.
Speaking on Thursday, the traffic police spokesperson, Michael Kananura said they are resuming full scale operations around the country targeting drink-drivers.
“We are therefore extending these operations to cover the entire Kampala Metropolitan Area, other cities and some highways that have been identified. In these operations we have added a component of taking biometrics (fingerprints) so as to have a profile (database) of drivers who will have been found to be driving motor vehicles under the influence of alcohol. This database will subsequently be integrated with that of INTERPOL ,”Kananura said.
According to officers who sought anonymity since they are not mandated to speak for the force, integrating the database of those involved in drink-driving will ensure that in case any of them seeks a job abroad and a letter of good conduct is asked from police, drink-driving will be indicated in the report.
The law
According to Superintendent of Police, Pamela Kentaro, the traffic and road safety directorate legal officer, section 111 of the Traffic and Road Safety Amendment Act 2020, driving with blood alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit is an offence.
She noted that the Traffic and Road Safety (Prohibited Drugs and Alcohol Limit) Regulations 2023 provides for both prescribed blood alcohol levels and prescribed breath alcohol levels.
“Regulation 3 provides that the prescribed blood alcohol level a driver of a vehicle other than a public service vehicle or ambulance is 50 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood while that of a driver of a public service vehicle or ambulance is 20 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millitres of blood. Regulation 4 provides that the prescribed breath alcohol level for a driver of a vehicle other than a PSV or ambulance is 25 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millitres of blood while that of a driver of a PSV or ambulance is 10 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millitres of breath,” Kentaro said.
She said that section 111 (1) of the Traffic and Road Safety Amendment Act 2020 provides that a person who contravenes this law is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding ssh6 million or imprisonment not exceeding three years or both.
“At the discretion of the overall commander, the offender can be issued with an express penalty scheme of shs200,000.”
Dr. Hafsa Lukwata, the Ministry of Health commissioner for mental health, alcohol and substance abuse said the tubes used on breathalyzers are for single use.
“There is a tubing for single use and disposable that every driver is given for us. It is packed and sanitized, safe for use. It is the user who opens it for themselves It is then mounted onto the machine . The level of infection through the breathlyser is very minimal,”Dr.Lukwata said.
Dangers of alcohol
She highlighted the dangers of alcohol that members of the public should take note of .
“When you drink alcohol, it is absorbed into your stomach, enters your body in as small as 10 minutes and therefore , we will be able to detect it through the breath. When it goes to the brain it releases certain hormones that make people feel relaxed, calm, however on top of that there is another side effect of slowing down reaction or stimuli. Alcohol also depresses the brain, speech interrupted, goes into muscles, liver and destroys the cells and also caused nausea, sweating and headache,” Dr.Lukwata said.
Uganda National Roads Authority spokesperson, Allan Ssempebwa explained that since driver behaviour is the leading cause of road crashes, the operation targets this.
“We started with Entebbe expressway and we are rolling it out to other highways. Many have been complaining of speed limits of the expressway but they should know every good thing has a limit. Even sugar has its side effects. The expressway must have a speed limit. When you continue on the express, you are allowed only 100km per hour and as you are exiting, calm down up to 40km per hour since you are going to a non-expressway,” Ssempebwa said.
He explained that the design features of the Entebbe Expressway don’t allow to speed beyond 100km per hour.
“People have been telling us we built a good road but it is killing people. People are dying on the expressway and it is something we are trying to curb. We are using speed cameras and spy cameras to get you until we see driver behaviour improves.”
The UNRA spokesperson said in the past many people were drinking and using the expressway to avoid drink driving operations but said this will be a story of the past.
“We know people drink and use Entebbe expressway to escape operation, now we tell you, spare some money to pay for express penalty tickets. Drink so we get the revenue from alcohol but don’t drink and drive. “
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