58 Die From Christmas Travel Accidents

The Traffic Police spokesperson, ASP Faridah Nampiima said a total of 195 accidents were registered during the Christmas period between December 23 and 26 and that out of these, 51 were fatal, 93 serious and 51 minor accidents.

“There were 248 accident victims during the period and out of these, 58 persons died and 190 sustained injuries. Of the dead, seven were drivers, 16 seriously injured whereas four pedal cyclists died four seriously injured and 17 motorcyclists died,” Nampiima said.

Nampiima said that a total of 12 passengers on motorcycles died, 33 were seriously injured, no passenger travelling in taxis died but 14 were seriously injured.

Traffic Police also registered 171 accidents caused by reckless driving, careless pedestrians accounted for and hit and run accidents were 17.

A total of 3070 traffic offenders were arrested and issued with Express Penalty Scheme tickets for various offences at checkpoints in various parts of the country.  Of these 644 were penalized for reckless driving, 422 for driving vehicles in dangerous mechanical conditions, 235 for having invalid driving licences , 164 for over speeding and 157 for not wearing seat belts among other traffic offences. She noted that the crackdown on errant drivers will not cease until the festive season is over.