Motorists don’t respect police – Mantswe
Pini Bothoko | Monday March 18, 2024 06:00
Deputy Commissioner of Police (operations), Solomon Mantswe said this when officially opening a capacity building seminar for senior traffic officers in Selebi-Phikwe.
He said most drivers seem to be oblivious of the responsibility to respect and give way to such formations something that must be recognised as a serious security breach. “It is also on us as the Botswana Police Service (BPS) to ensure that members of the public recognise the sensitivity of these convoys including emergency service vehicles,” Mantswe added.
Furthermore, the police boss said usually when an accident occurs, members of the public flock to the scene and in the process crowding out officers to a point of rendering them helpless. He stated that police’s ability to manage scenes of accidents and exercise police authority has drastically diminished.
He said some members of the public have developed the unenviable audacity to enter scenes, take photographs of scenes and victims, and circulate them on social media with impunity. “The question, once again is, where did we lose the plot? This is a fundamental question to which this gathering must find answers (to). “We must first educate, but where breaches persist, take punitive action.
This is not a far-fetched call as we have enabling statutes to invoke, as and when the need arises,” he said. He stated that as Botswana is increasingly becoming a Meeting, International Conferences and Events (MICE) destination, there is a need to urgently address this challenge can never be over emphasized. “I am pleasantly aware that there are youth and school outreach programmes currently being undertaken to promote a culture of safety and courtesy amongst this cohort of road users.
“These programmes, I would imagine, are yet to produce the desired outcomes considering the challenges that the youth continue to face in the road traffic space,” he said. Mantswe said in November last year they made a commitment at the launch of 60 Days of Action on Crime and Road Safety campaign to embark on pedestrian education to curb the rising numbers of their involvement in road traffic accidents. Furthermore, Mantswe said they were pleased that through their collaborative effort, police have been able to reduce total crime by eight percent, from 173,140 cases recorded in 2022 to 159,680 in 2023. “We were, however, unable to make reductions on murder, stock theft and theft of motor vehicles, which realised increases of four percent, 19% and 28% respectively. “Some of the offences detected during this period were from road policing initiatives by traffic officers you lead.
This is a positive contribution towards keeping this country safe and secure, an effort which you have to be applauded for,” he said. However, Mantswe revealed that the number of lives lost annually on the country’s roads is still unacceptably high. He said in the past festive season they recorded a high increase in the total number of road traffic accidents, as the figure rose from 440 in the 2022-2023 season to 687 in the just ended one.
“The number of fatal road accidents also increased from 19 in the previous period to 33 in the current period, which resulted in increased fatalities from 22 in 2022-2023 period to 45 in the 2023-2024 festive period. Notwithstanding the negative festive season outturn, I am happy to note improvements on the year-on-year national road safety situation,” he said. He said 2023 saw a modest two percent reduction in fatalities as 396 lives were lost on the roads as compared to 404 in 2022. Mantswe stated that on a daily basis, they see people driving motor vehicles at speeds not suitable for conditions and many others driving under the influence of alcohol or other depressants.
“Injurious vehicle conditions, various forms of carelessness by drivers and pedestrians play themselves out in the daily road traffic environment. Even more concerning in recent statistics are the pedestrians, who are increasingly becoming over represented in road traffic deaths.
This development is a call for us to come up with initiatives specifically targeted at addressing the plight of this vulnerable category of road users,” he said. Mantswe said another disturbing revelation from the accident statistics is that the 21 – 35 years age groups are the most represented in the casualty figures. However, he said this is not surprising as these age groups are the most travelled and most active across the communities. Moreover, he said it is again not surprising that as well-represented as they are in the injury categories, the age group also form a large part of those responsible for inconsiderable driving practices compared to all other age groups.
“I am pleasantly aware that there are youth and school outreach programmes currently being undertaken to promote a culture of safety and courtesy amongst this cohort of road users. “These programmes, I would imagine, are yet to produce the desired outcomes considering the challenges that the youth continue to face in the road traffic space,” he said.