Traffic commanders cautioned against keeping vehicle wreckages at police stations

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The police have warned traffic commanders against congesting police stations with vehicle wreckages. Almost all police stations particularly in Kampala are surrounded by the wreckage of motor vehicles and motorcycles involved in accidents.

At Kampala Central Police Station –CPS, the wreckage of vehicles destroyed beyond repair and those that were burnt are parked outside the station covering full lane of Buganda road thus making it unusable to drivers.

Several police posts along Northern bypass such as Kyebando and Kisaasi often have vehicle wreckages surrounding them.

Charles Ssebambulidde, the traffic police spokesperson and former traffic operations commander said it is wrong to keep such wreckage at stations.

Ssebambulidde said all wreckage must be driven or pulled up to Inspection of Vehicles–IOV centre at Naguru. This according to Ssebambulidde enables the Inspector of Vehicles to examine the wreckage and make a report on the state of the vehicle which includes a recommendation on whether to write it off or not.

Police said only vehicles waiting to be taken by owners should be parked at police stations.

Vehicles parked at stations according to Ssebambulidde should be there for a short time and should not be parked on the road.

“Vehicles parked at stations should be those that are going to be taken by owners. They must be there for a short time and should not be parked on the road. If the parking lot is full, then they must be taken to IOV,” Ssebambulidde said.

A traffic officer at one of the police divisions within Kampala city said it is almost impossible for all wreckage to be towed to IOV because there are few police towing cars commonly known as breakdown compared to the number of accidents recorded every day.

“In this city, drivers and riders are drunk even during day time. Many drive recklessly. Almost every hour, we register an accident involving a vehicle or a motorcycle. Who will be there to tow these wreckages to IOV every hour? Private towing cars need instant money which you can’t charge from an accident victim,” a traffic officer said.

Ssebambulidde insists that police towing cars must always be used to remove wreckage from accident scenes purposely to ensure it is kept in the right place.

The 2019 traffic report shows KMP South that covers Katwe, Kajjansi, Nateete, Nsangi, Kyengera, Entebbe, all other regions in Kampala metropolitan with 2,587 accidents meaning seven accidents were registered every day.

Police add that not all vehicles at stations are of traffic-related incidents. Some have been impounded for being used in criminal activities such as robbery, theft, smuggling of goods, fraud and human trafficking.

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