Day 5: Teaching school children how to keep safe on the road
Like you and me, their biggest worry on the road is getting back home alive. Their major challenge is kids, narrow roads with no provision for riders, reckless drivers with total disregard of other road users and then some school kids who walk “in the road” and don’t “give way” to motorists.
Joined by the ASP Bakumwanyi Ronald, OC Traffic Kyankwanzi, we shared tips on how we can all safely use the road and ensure everyone gets back home safely including taking care of vulnerable road users, school kids among them.
Steps further ahead, we branched off to Kyabanjonjo Primary School, home of 800+ kids. Brilliant kids, great school leadership.
We spent most of our time together breaking down the basics of safe road usage for pedestrians more especially in circumstances where there are no zebra crossing points nor pedestrian walkways. It’s always a joy to talk road safety with kids. At least 2 school kids are killed everyday on our roads. We hope our efforts help one extra kid get back home safe.
As we rolled out of Kyakabuga towards Nsambya, at the village border point was a major hazard. Two potholes which according to the locals have caused more than 9 road crashes recently, of which one occurred over the weekend involving a truck and the bus that claimed 7 lives on spot and lots of goods.
These two potholes definitely started small, and no one bothered to fix them. At one point a village boy filled them with wheelbarrows of stones, and the situation became “normal” but now the stones have been washed away and all we have are death traps.
There are no major road signs or markings between Kyankwanzi and Kikonda apart from a few “Animals Crossing” signs at what looks like at an individual’s farm.
Even though the road is under construction, a few things like signage, and markings can make this stretch with a fairly motorable surface safe.
Safe Roads Save Lives
