In September, the traffic police in Kampala collected Shillings 170 million in penalties from drivers who were caught drunk or exceeding the speed limit. The police report for September shows that 474 drivers were arrested and fined Shillings 200,000 each for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Additionally, 380 drivers were caught on Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras for going over the speed limit of 100km/h on the Entebbe Expressway. Like the drunk drivers, the police imposed a Shillings 200,000 fine on these speeding drivers.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Micheal Kananura, the Traffic police spokesperson, explained that many drivers have been ignoring the 100km/h speed limit on the Entebbe Expressway.
“Drivers are exceeding the speed limit on Entebbe Expressway because they know we don’t have traffic officers at all points. However, we use our CCTVs to capture these violators and issue them tickets,” SP Kananura said.
Out of the Shillings 170 million collected, Shillings 94 million came from fines on drunk drivers, while Shillings 76 million was from speeding fines. The majority of drunk drivers were caught on high-risk roads during the night, such as the Northern Bypass, Entebbe Expressway, Jinja Road, Kira Road, and Entebbe Road.
“We also confiscated 569 motorcycles because their owners did not have driving licenses, reflector jackets, and crash helmets. This was part of our Fika Salama Extra operations on various roads,” SP Kananura said. Siraje Mutyaba, the leader of Boda boda riders in Kampala central division, mentioned that they have stopped intervening in cases involving motorcyclists arrested for not wearing crash helmets, having driver licenses, or reflector jackets.
“We have participated in police awareness workshops where we educated bodaboda riders on the importance of wearing crash helmets and having driving licenses. Many do not seem willing to obey traffic laws, and we have given up on them,” Mutyaba said.
Meanwhile, SP Kananura reported that there were 71 fatalities and 287 serious injuries resulting from traffic accidents last week. Among the 71 deaths, 28 were Boda boda riders, seven were passengers on motorcycles, and 17 were pedestrians.
