Police have issued a new directive to its traffic officers around the country to carry out operations in which reckless drivers will going forward be arrested and taken to courts of law instead of being issued with Express Penalty Scheme tickets.
“There is now a new directive that those driving recklessly and over speeding shall now be arrested and taken to courts of law instead of EPS tickets,” the traffic police spokesperson, Superintendent of Police, Michael Kananura told journalists on Monday.
Previously, police came up with a policy of naming and shaming drivers who commit traffic offences.During the naming and shaming, both government and private vehicles will be published for the public to see and on top of this, they are issued with express penalty scheme tickets.
The traffic police spokesperson on Monday said the move to arrest and prosecute these drivers has been necessitated by the need to ensure compliance with traffic regulations which they said in not the case currently.
The development comes at a time when Ugandan roads have continued to claim many lives.
In the traffic police report for July, 30 and August, 6, a total of 405 accidents were recorded in which 79 were fatal, 199 serious and 127 were minor.
Fatal accidents are those in which people die, serious accidents have people injured whereas minor accidents are those in which only vehicles are damaged without anyone killed or injured.
“The 405 accidents recorded last week had 424 victims, 99 of which died and 325 sustained serious injuries. Of those who died, 36 were on motorcycles as passengers (5) and 35 riders,” Superintendent of Police, Michael Kananura, the traffic police spokesperson said.
The new directive comes on the backdrop of the army deploying its officers to help traffic police officers on ensuring discipline on the roads.
The military Police traffic officers are deployed in several parts of the country, especially the city and on roadblocks along the major highways to check on discipline, especially by drivers of government and security vehicles who are on many occasions reckless on the road.
