Analysis of road accidents in Uganda: A case study of police force records between the years 2015 - 2019

Abstract

Road traffic accidents have got a significant impact on the lives of the people of Uganda and the whole world in general. This study demonstrates the significant relationships of traffic accidents to the health conditions of the people in terms of injuries suffered. The researcher ought to find the major causes of motor accidents in Uganda, the nature of traffic crashes, the accident victims by road user category, ownership of vehicles involved in crashes and time of occurrence of the crashes. The research was highly based on secondary data obtained from annual traffic reports from 2015-2019 which was used for further analysis at two steps that is the univariate and bivariate levels. From analysis it shows that human error was the major cause of road accidents with careless driving (50.12%) contributing to a majority of serious cases recorded followed by unknown cause (48.63%). Findings also show that serious injuries are the category of crashes that was mainly inflicted to the road user as compared to other crashes (fatal and minor injuries). In Uganda, private vehicles contributed to majority of the accidents followed by foreign vehicles. From 16:00-19:59 is the time when most accidents occurred and the least number of accidents occurred from 00:00-03:59. Findings also show that passengers, pedestrians and motorcyclists are the category of road users mostly involved in road accidents with a percentage of 39%, 25.13% and 24.51% respectively. The researcher recommended for strict enforcement of traffic rule and road safety regulation, ensuring motor vehicle quality and ensuring better roads surface to reduce on road accidents. The Uganda police through traffic department can also increase on the years at which persons should obtain their driving and riding permits through the authorized driving schools, increasing on the size of the roads and also where pedestrians should move and this is done by KCCA and UNRA.