PARLIAMENTARIANS COMMIT TO ACT ON ROAD SAFETY

The 18^th of May has seen Members of the Parliament of Uganda make a commitment to act on issues pertaining to road safety. The Commit To Act campaign is one that is running across the world for a whole week with various countries engaging with people in places of political authority to commit to support activities encompassed on making the roads safe for all users. The risk factor in focus for this campaign is speed and we are seeking Parliamentarians commitment to support reduction of the speed limit in built up areas, ie where people walk, live and play to 30km/hr.

Starting off the engagement with some of the Members of the Parliamentary Forum for Road Safety (PAFROS) is the chairman- Honorable Alex Ruhunda. He kicked off by appreciating the amount of work that has been exhibited with passion in the different drives that Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) such as URRENO have carried out in spreading the road safety gospel.

Consequently, Fred Tumwine Nkuruho, the Executive Director of Uganda Road Accident Reduction Network Organisation (URRENO) remarked  it is important for evidence-based actions to become a norm, investment in road safety to be given centre stage and NGOs to be involved in the decision-making process of road safety related matters.

“Until our road users are educated on how to use the road, we are at risk of affecting more financial sectors given we lost approximately nine tourists in the past four months to road crashes” remarked Honorable Robert Kasolo from the Parliamentary Forum for Road Safety.

Hon Ayoo Tonny in his submission noted that it is our individual right to remind the driver of any car we occupy that our lives are in their hands when on the road and they should adhere to road rules.

The meeting was later concluded by Honorable Alex Ruhunda who affirmed his commitment to support the advocacy of speed reduction in built up areas.