Deputy Speaker crusades for reforms to curb road accidents

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, has called on government to extensively look into reckless driving on the roads to curb accidents.

During the plenary sitting of Thursday, 24 November 2022, Tayebwa in his communication to the House, said that although there has always been a rush to judge Boda Boda riders when after an accident, many times reckless car drivers are the cause of these accidents.

His communication stems from the death of a staff of Parliament, Mark Bahati, who was knocked by a car while riding on a boda boda along the Northern Bypass on 14 November 2022. Bahati later succumbed to his injuries at Nakasero Hospital.

Government, Tayebwa said, needed to extensively look into issues of reckless drivers who cause accidents on the road. He says that whereas the government is looking at organising boda boda riders, there is a need to look at the transport sector extensively.

“There has been a rush to judge boda boda riders; when people hear of a boda boda accident, they immediately rush and judge these boda boda riders. We must get a solution,” Tayebwa said.

According to statistics from the Uganda Police Force, at least four people die in boda boda accidents every day in Uganda.

The 2021 Annual Crime and Traffic/Road Safety report indicates that there were 4,159 road accident fatalities countrywide with 1,390 involving motorcycle riders while 528 were passengers on motorcycles.