By Juungu Archelaus
The crisis on our roads has reached a climax so pressing that it threatens to swallow our future. Recently, the Traffic Police spokesperson shared a WhatsApp screenshot from a whistleblower on a bus who spoke up because the vehicle was dangerously over capacity. That one act of courage likely saved lives, yet it highlights a terrifying reality: how public transport providers are continuously dragging the lives of Ugandans into a mess through sheer personal irresponsibility.
How can a conductor or driver fail to listen to the pleas of their own passengers? Police reports consistently show that personal behaviour is the root cause of 80-90% of accidents, yet there is a glaring gap in how we enforce discipline. We see daily warnings issued by Michael Kananura on platforms like X and TikTok, but we must ask: who are we reaching? Many local drivers are not scrolling through social media; for them, these digital warnings are invisible. We are essentially swimming in familiar waters, just receiving Traffic Police notifications on our gadgets while the men at the helm of the journey seem to remain in the dark.
It is a half-way calculated equation to spend our resources training school children on road signs and pedestrians on safety while the drivers, who are the ones holding the key responsibility for every life on board, ignore the basic rules of the road. We are teaching people how to avoid being hit, but we aren’t teaching the drivers how to stop hitting them.
My appeal is simple: the Traffic Police Directorate should pivot its strategy. Instead of focusing solely on school programs or digital apps, let us organize mandatory, offline training sessions for public transport providers at their convenience. We must tackle this crisis where it starts — with the behaviour of the driver. Until we instill discipline in the person behind the wheel, no amount of signage or social media posts will stop the carnage.
The writer is a student at Mbarara University of Science and Technology.
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