Festive road fatalities decrease
Staff Writer | Thursday January 12, 2023 12:22
According to a statistics statement from Botswana Police Service (BPS) released this morning, a total of 440 accidents were recorded over the just ended festive period as opposed to 548 in the festive period for 2021 translating to a 19.7 decline.
“The number of fatal road accidents decreased by 36.6% from 30 in the previous period to 19 in the period under review. Resultant fatalities also decreased from 45 in 2021 period to 22 in the 2022 period, hence representing a 51.1% decrease,” reads the statement.
According to the police, there was also a decrease in general crime and road traffic accidents observed during the festive period. “The number of serious injuries also declined from 59 in the previous period to 56 in the current period showing a 5.1 % decrease whilst minor injuries decreased from 90 to 46 showing a reduction of 49%, However, road traffic violations compiled by the Police generated a total of 17 999 compared to 15 433 in the previous period demonstrating an increase of 16.6 %,” further reads the statement.
The police however, are concerned by the rising rape cases recorded especially at or around entertainment places, “ A total number of 155 cases have been reported so far with majority of them recorded between Christmas and New year.”
For more serious crimes,the police say a total of 27 murder cases were registered. “The bulk of these cases occurred as a result of misunderstandings between victims and perpetrators which were mostly influenced by alcohol abuse,” said the police.