Ugandan Roads Claim 4806 Lives in 2023: Police Annual Crime Report

In the latest release of the Police Annual Crime Report, the sobering statistics reveal a staggering toll exacted by Ugandan roads in 2023. With a harrowing total of 4,806 lives lost, the report underscores the urgent need for enhanced road safety measures and heightened awareness among both motorists and pedestrians

https://twitter.com/tesonewsnetwork/status/1760387266243973579

The latest report released on Wednesday indicated that there has been an increase in the number of people killed on Ugandan roads since 2019.
For example, the deaths in 2019 were 3880, 3663 in 2020, rose to 4159 in 2021, 4534 in 2022 and then 4806 last year.

The trend for the number of people injured in these crashes has remained consistent.
For example, the number of people seriously injured in road crashes moved from 9,635 in 2019, 8,370 in 2020, 12,589 in 2021, 15,227 in 2022 and 16,736 in 2023.

The report highlights a 16% rise in reported crashes on Ugandan roads, climbing from 20,394 in 2022 to 23,608 in 2023. Among the 23,608 crashes recorded in 2023, 4,179 resulted in fatalities, 12,487 were categorized as serious, and 6,942 were classified as minor incidents.
According to the report, the three Greater Kampala Metropolitan districts of Kampala, Mukono, and Wakiso topped the list with the highest number of accidents, totaling 9,861 incidents.

 Following closely behind was the Rwizi region in Western Uganda, reporting 1,192 crashes, while the West Nile region recorded 950 cases. Additionally, the Albertine region accounted for 813 crashes, and the Greater Masaka region saw 782 accidents.

The crashes involved a total of 37,449 vehicles, with motorcycles being the most frequently involved, accounting for 13,386 incidents. Motorcars followed closely behind, with 10,398 reported cases, while omnibuses were involved in 2,663 accidents.

The report reveals that the highest number of crashes, totaling 2,131, occurred in December, while July closely followed with 2,099 crashes. Conversely, January recorded the lowest number of crashes in 2023, with 1,787 reported incidents. Interestingly, despite July having the highest overall number of crashes, it also recorded the highest number of fatal crashes, with 457 fatalities. In contrast, November had the lowest number of fatalities, with 332 reported cases.
Commenting on the report, Traffic Police director Lawrence Niwabiine noted a concerning trend of steady increases in fatalities on Ugandan roads and urged road users to be careful while going about their business .