Road safety experts call for safe pedestrian crossing points at busy junctions

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Road safety experts have asked the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT) and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to provide safe pedestrian crossing points at busy junctions such as Banda.

Jackson Musoga, the programs officer for Safe Transport and Survivors Support Uganda (STASSU), said with support from the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, they have made visits to various junctions in Kampala and realised Banda is one of the risky pedestrian crossing points.

Musoga said when they visited Banda, they realised there are more than 2000 people who cross from one end of the road to another in an hour, especially in the peak morning and evening hours. However, Musoga said that the Banda junction has no safe pedestrian crossing point.

“Imagine 2000 pedestrians crossing from one side of the road to another in an hour, and there is no safe crossing point for such road users. This junction has Kyambogo University, it has student hostels, and it has secondary and primary schools. But all these students and adults are not protected,” Musoga said.

Banda junction, which road safety experts have cited, is used by not only Kyambogo students, but also by Kyambogo College and Nabisunsa Girls students. Additionally, the place has a market, several car bonds, two petrol stations, a fuel depot, a taxi and Boda boda stages.

The call for safe pedestrian crossing points at busy junctions aligns with a global campaign dubbed CommitToAct under the hashtags # MobilitySnapshotMake #WalkingSafe and #MakeCyclingSafe. The call for safe pedestrian crossing also aligns with the 8Th UN Global Road Safety Week.

At least 5,114 people perished in crashes in 2024, according to traffic police statistics released by Assistant Inspector General of Police-AIGP Lawrence Nuwabiine. The majority of the victims were pedestrians, followed by commercial motorcycle riders commonly known as Bodaboda riders.

Earlier on, Fred Tumwine, the chairman of Road Safety Advocacy Coalition Uganda (ROSACU), said there should be actionable strategies aimed at enhancing road safety and supporting socio-economic development.

“Pedestrians are among the most at-risk and overlooked road users on our streets. Yet, we are all pedestrians at some time in our daily journeys. Walking is healthy, sustainable, equitable, and free. When safe, it is an answer to many of society’s ills,” Tumwine said.

Winston Katushabe, MoWT’s Commissioner in charge of transport regulation and licensing, said there is a need for increased funding for the implementation of a National Road Safety Action Plan to address Uganda’s road safety crisis.

“The main goal of the National Road Safety Action Plan was to reduce road crashes by 50% by the year 2030. We intend to address challenges like inadequate crash data, limited funding, and poor stakeholder collaboration,” Katushabe said.

Katushabe further noted that the Government and stakeholders intend to undertake a midterm review of the National Road Safety Action plan to understand where there are challenges and improve.

The Commissioner added that the Government is in final discussions with the World Bank to finance a project aimed at improving the road crash database and believes that in a year, it will have been concluded. “Once this database is in place, stakeholders will be trained on how to use this data, and it will be used to guide policy formulations and public engagements,” Katushabe said.

Musoga explained that Mobility Snapshot data is collected at a specific intersection ithe n the community, and it analyses how many people are using the intersection and whether life-saving road safety interventions are in place to protect those people.

“The mobility snapshot showed that the Banda intersection lacks the minimum lifesaving interventions such as zebra crossing, pedestrian walkways and cycling lanes. The area also has 3 intersections in a very short distance and mostly heavily congested by both vehicle traffic and pedestrians,” Musoga explained.

Banda, according to STASSU and ROSACU, is one of the extremely hard-to-cross junctions due to the existence of speeding cars and motorcycles. Banda alone explains the challenges pedestrians and cyclists encounter every day crossing busy and unprotected intersections.

*****

URN