Kenneth Nsenga, a person with physical impairment- short stature, wakes up as early as 4:00 am every day to go to the bakery where he works in the finance department. He does this to dodge the heavy traffic jam.
Using public transport is challenge that Nsega endures each day; including going unnoticed by motorists when he hails some and having difficulty crossing the roads, as he cannot run.
“I stay in Kyebando and I work in Muyenga. The distance is very long. So, to dodge traffic jam, I have to wake up early so that I arrive in time. By six sharp, I’m on the road. At that time, the road is dark, cars and the different road users are at a high speed and so it’s kind of hard for me,” he narrates.
“I have to first raise my hand to attract attention to me. Otherwise, I’ll have to patiently wait until they see me and stop. If they don’t, I have to look for a boda-boda to help me cross,” he says.
Nsenga says he is at a high risk of traffic crashes because of his impairment.
“I’m short in height. When I stand on the road and some taxi drivers are speeding, they only consider tall people. So, you can be there standing, while they want to take over and they’re not sure that you’re there. At the traffic lights, it’s sometimes hard for me to cross. I have to wait for those traffic officers to raise a flag for me to cross. If they (the traffic officers) aren’t there, I’ll have to wait because I can’t run very fast to cross the road,” he noted.
Berna Longose, a person with a low vision shares her experience while using the road.
“For us who are visually impaired, we mostly use our ears. You can hear when something is coming. Some people use a white cane. They can raise it and when people understand what they’re saying, they stop so that they cross the road. Me who doesn’t have a white cane, I just use this little sight of mine. Sometimes I find someone who’s crossing and I follow that person. I do this more often. My sight cannot allow me to use road signs. Instead, wherever I go, I ask, and I’m told,” Longose said.
Cuthbert Isingoma, a road safety engineer, says a safe road is when someone can move on it safely.
“Some people with disabilities are crawling, some have one leg, so they need a road where they can ably walk comfortably. If someone is using a wheelchair, they should be able to move from one side of the road to another,” he explained.
Isingoma, who is also the coordinator of the Uganda Road Accidents Reduction organization (URRENO), further said that the road curb, the edge where a raised sidewalk meets the roadway should enable a wheelchair user to climb and that a visually impaired person using a walking stick should be able to manoeuvre easily; cross, feel that there is a step and climb.
He added that obstructions on most roads have made them unsafe for persons with disabilities.
“You find that they could make a very good walkway but then put a lamppost, which is an obstruction. When someone puts a flower pot in the walkway, chains and other metallic posts, a person who uses a wheelchair or one with a visual impairment will not be able to manoeuvre through them. So we must find a way of enabling pedestrians to walk properly in these places.”
“The other danger is in walking on the roads at night. For many of our roads, the visibility is still poor. So someone who’s in a wheelchair may not know that there’s an obstacle. There should be some little bit of light to enable people to see,” he said.
In a study, ‘State of pedestrian road safety in Uganda: a qualitative study of existing interventions’ done by Makerere researchers in 2019, it’s noted that pedestrians in Uganda account for 40% of road traffic fatalities and 25% of serious injuries annually.
The research revealed low prioritization of pedestrian needs in the design, implementation, and evaluation of pedestrian road safety interventions, and among the key recommendations, it was noted that Uganda’s pedestrian needs require concerted efforts to coordinate all road safety activities, political commitment, and budgetary support at all levels.
Whereas the Non-motorised Transport Policy, a potential policy that would ensure road safety for all users has been in place for some years, its implementation is still pending.
Among its key objectives, the policy seeks to increase the recognition of walking and cycling in transport, planning, design, and infrastructure provision; the provision of safe infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists; and an improvement in regulation and enforcement to enhance safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
To minimize pedestrians’ risk of being involved in road traffic crashes, Dr Olive Kobusingye, the Head of the Trauma, Injury, and Disability (TRIAD) at Makerere University School of Public Health said that there’s a need to promote Non-motorised transport because lots of people are already walking, using bicycles, but they use them at great risk. She also said that the Policy should be implemented.
“So unless we can be intentional about creating spaces where people can walk, and cycle spaces, it seems like it’s always going to be a high risk for cyclists in Kampala or other spaces. Because we interface with huge machines, they’re speeding, so if such a machine makes an impact on a person who walks, they really have little chances of survival,” she explained.
She added, “There are places where people are walking on the very edges of the road and if two cars meet, at the very end, the pedestrian is going to go in the ditch or is going to be knocked. And that’s somebody who can run out of danger. So if it’s a person with a disability that cannot get away to jump, they’re going to be run over. Sometimes they’re using crutches, and canes or they might be in a wheelchair. They all remain at risk.”
The National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) has been advocating for traffic lights that are inclusive for persons with visual impairments.
Esther Kyozira, the Chief Executive Officer National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) said that they are pushing for such interventions.
She noted that despite the body’s efforts and successes in influencing the Traffic and Road Safety Act in having disability-inclusive provisions, its implementation is still pending. She said,
“NUDIPU did a lot of work to influence the Act to have disability inclusive provisions. What’s not happening is the implementation The Act is clear. It says that the walkways must be accessible to persons with disabilities. It also talks about persons with disabilities being able to access driving permits, traffic lights being accessible to them and many more other provisions.
And when it comes to the city centre here, even the zebra crossings are not respected and yet the zebra crossings would have been the other way out.”
Strategies
“We want to continue engaging the Ministry of Works and Transport because that’s where the biggest problem comes from and the Uganda National Roads Authority so that whenever they’re coming up with roads, they should be sensitive to all road users’ needs, identify the landmarks to enable persons with disabilities to cross the road without worrying about being knocked down,” Kyozira said.
Godfrey Mwesigye, the chairperson of Road Safety Advocacy coalition Uganda told ChimpReports that they have been advocating for disability inclusion in the road structures and designs.
“In our advocacy, we’ve always advocated for inclusivity when it comes to the construction of road safety infrastructure. There are very few roads that have those structures. The feedback we always get is that the road is and theirs plan for expansion. We always want to ensure that when it comes to road construction for development, persons with disabilities should be included. And also the other issue is for the people that use the white canes. Except for the zebra crossing, I haven’t seen a road sign for them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gen Katumba Wamala, the Minister of Works and Transport recently said despite safety measures that the government has put in place to ensure the safety of persons with disabilities, other road users are still hesitant to acknowledge them.
He said that the zebra crossing is not respected, and foot bridges are often used by cyclists, putting pedestrians’ lives at risk.
However, he revealed, government is committed to achieving the global target of reducing by 50% the projected road crash deaths and serious injuries by 2030.
“In this regard, the Ministry is in the process of finalizing a National Road Safety Action Plan that will be aligned with the Global Plan of Action on Road Safety for the period 2021-2031. Some of the recommendations above are actions in the planned National Road Safety Action Plan,” Katumba said.
Gen. Katumba further said that in the next 5 years, government will improve road safety coordination and bring on board all the road safety players, and influence Road user behaviour through enhancement of Road Safety promotion and sensitization campaigns among others.
