KAMPALA – The percentage of road users who feel safe on Ugandan roads has increased by 21 percent, according to a new survey issued here on Wednesday.
According to the 2019 Road User Satisfaction Survey issued by government, the percentage of road users who felt safe on the road increased to 58 percent compared to 37 percent in 2017.
Similar to previous years, pedestrians felt the most vulnerable of the road user groups with only 53 percent feeling safe on the roads.
“The reasons advanced for not feeling safe on Uganda’s roads included narrow roads, potholes, dust, reckless driving and poor signage respectively,” the survey showed.
The report also showed that 57 percent of road users were satisfied with the road network in 2019 compared to 27 percent in the last survey, two years ago.
This year, according to the survey, had the highest percentage of satisfied road users.
“The improvement in road user experience was attributed mainly to better road maintenance and rehabilitation. Other contributing factors were road widening; quicker journey times and perceived improvement in road safety,” the survey said.
The major reasons for dissatisfaction with Uganda’s roads in 2019 were the same from previous years, namely: narrow road widths, potholes, inadequate road maintenance, poor drainage and dust.
Uganda registers about 20,000 accidents each year, with some 2,000 deaths, making it one of the countries with the highest traffic death rates, according to police statistics.
