Gov’t Orders Mandatory Wearing Of Identification Badges For Bus Drivers As Traffic Police Moves To Curb Escalating Road Accidents
By Uganda Online Media
Uganda Police has directed all drivers of passenger buses to wear identification badges amidst increasing accidents that have claimed the lives of Ugandans.
According to the traffic police spokesperson, ASP Faridah Nampiima, they have reawakened the badges as one of the ways to help in reducing accidents on Ugandan roads.
“As police, we are reinstating the badges. We have given drivers one-week starting last week, January, 6 for every bus driver to get a badge. No bus will be allowed to move without a badge for the driver,” Nampiima said during a media briefing on Monday.
According to Nampiima, for every passenger bus, the driver must clearly display their photo, badge which has their name, permit number, class of the driving permit and the bus company to help police monitor the movement of buses.
Nampiima noted that badges are one of the initiatives to crack down on incompetent drivers since only qualified ones are issued with the badges.
“All companies are instructed to submit particulars of their drivers to the Ministry of Works and Transport for verification. No driver of a bus will be allowed on the road without a badge and if your badge is withdrawn, you will never be allowed to chauffer a bus in this country,” Nampiima warned.
She noted that badges will also help to avoid cases where drivers shift from one bus company to the other after causing accidents.
Meanwhile, Nampiima also revealed that they are resuming the crackdown on buses without route charts.
“Every company should have a route chat and if it is given, it shows when and where your bus is supposed to be in a particular place. Every bus should move within the specified time of the route chat. We don’t want to see scenarios where a bus arrives at a particular point before the time specified on the route chart since this shows that the driver is overspeeding,” Nampiima said.
A route chart is a document that details the route a specific bus must play and the time it does it.
The traffic police spokesperson says the development is one of the ways in which they want to tighten the noose around bus drivers in a bid to reduce road accidents, especially those caused by drivers.
She insists that if drivers follow the route charts, they will avoid return journeys which have proven to be the leading causes of accidents by buses as the drivers rush to make as many trips as possible.
