Road Safety

The following are findings from the report about worldwide road safety:

• Of the 1.35 million global road traffic deaths, children and young adults aged between 5 and 29 years account for 59% of it.
• 13% of road accident fatalities occur in low and middle income countries. These countries only have 1% of the world’s motor vehicles. No reductions were observed in road traffic deaths in low income countries between 2013 – 2016.
• Vulnerable road users account for half of all road traffic deaths globally. Pedestrians, cyclists, and riders of motorized two-wheelers and their passengers are collectively known as “vulnerable road users.” The proportion of road traffic deaths in vulnerable road users is greater in low-income countries than in high-income countries.

• Controlling speed reduces road traffic injuries. Only 59 countries, covering 39% of the world’s population (2.67 billion people), have implemented an urban speed limit of 50 km/h or less and allow local authorities to reduce these limits. A 5% cut in average speed can reduce the number of fatal crashes by as much as 30%.
• Drinking alcohol and driving increases the risk of a crash. Above a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05 g/dl, the risk of road traffic crash increases dramatically. 89 countries, covering 66% of the world’s population (4.55 billion people), have a comprehensive drink-driving law enforcing the WHO-recommended blood alcohol concentration limit of 0.05 g/dl or less.Wearing a good-quality helmet can reduce the risk of death from a road crash by 40%.

• Wearing a good-quality helmet can also reduce the risk of severe injury by over 70%. 90 countries, representing 77% of the world’s population, have a comprehensive helmet law covering all riders, all roads and all engine types, and apply a helmet standard.
• Wearing a seat-belt reduces the risk of death among front-seat passengers by 40–65%. Wearing a seat-belt can also reduce deaths among rear-seat car occupants by 25–75%. 111 countries, representing 69% of the world’s population, have comprehensive seat-belt laws covering all occupants in a car.
• Infant seats, child seats and booster seats can reduce child deaths by 54–80% in the event of a crash. More than half of all countries have implemented a law on child-restraint use in cars.

• Prompt, good-quality pre-hospital care can save the lives of many people injured in road traffic crashes. 111 countries have a universal national access emergency number, but only 59 countries have ambulance services available to transport over 75% of injured patients to hospital.
• Since 2007, 88 countries have reduced the number of road traffic deaths. This suggests that progress can be made if there is sufficient political commitment. However, in 87 countries the number of road traffic deaths has increased, while at the global level the number of deaths has remained stable. The pace of legislative change and enforcement need to be hastened and more attention paid to vulnerable road users to reduce the number of road traffic deaths.

• Source 
• Global status report on road safety 2018 
• Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 
• WHO Road Safety Fact sheet

Situation of Road Safety in Uganda

• Uganda is a land locked country in the East Africa region with a population of 39 MillionPeople (2018 ).
• Road transport is the dominant mode of transport in Uganda, as is the case in most landlocked countries. The Vehicle population is estimated at 1,594,962 including .
• In Uganda, road transport carries about 95% of the country’s goods traffic and about 99% of passenger traffic.
• The mode offers the great advantages of flexibility, the ability to move many small groups of passengers and goods consignments between many different origins and destinations, and the availability of door-to-door collection and delivery over a widely spread network.

The global road safety crisis is becoming an increasingly worrying phenomenon. In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that “road traffic injuries are a growing public health issue” and that, there is also a trend for lower income countries to carry a disproportionate burden of suffering.

• The Uganda Police reported a 2.4% increase in road traffic fatalities from 2,999 in 2016 to 3,051 in 2017.
• In 2017, 6,530 people were seriously injured (hospitalised).
• Traffic accident deaths are the highest among road users between the ages of 25-34, constituting 79% of those killed.
• This implies the most productive age bracket of the country is severely affected.
• The country is experiencing rapid motorization spurred by economic growth and population increase and is currently grappling with an astronomical increase in the number of motorcycles used as Public Service Vehicles (boda-bodas).

According to the recently published WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety, 2015 Uganda has the 20th highest road fatality rates per 100,000 population at 29.

• Motorcycles accounted for over 33% of the annual road fatalities.
• 40% of these deaths are pedestrians.
• 6% cyclists.
• 5% motorists.
• The rest contribute 17%.