Lockdown Effect: Huge Drop In Fatal Accidents
Pini Bothoko | Monday May 25, 2020 15:13
As compared to the first months of 2019, this year the lockdown seems to have had a welcome impact on road traffic accidents and deaths, apart from its purpose to contain the spread of the deadly COVID-19.
Against 62 road deaths registered between April and May 2019, only five people died in road accidents during the same period this year.
The director of traffic, senior assistant commissioner Katlholo Mosimanegape confirmed this to The Monitor. He said not only fatalities have seen a significant decrease, but road accidents in general have also drastically dropped.
Mosimanegape said during the same period last year they recorded 2,497 general road accidents as compared to 451 this year. He said the limited movement of people had a positive impact on the number of road accidents as only a few regarded as ‘essentials’ were seen driving around.
However, the traffic boss said following the relaxed restrictions traffic police officers are prepared to handle the usual congestion. He said the heavy police presence on the roads also had an impact on the speed of vehicles as well as the ban of alcohol sale that tends to significantly contribute to drinking and driving mishaps.
He stated that they used to conduct drunken driving checks, especially on weekends and they used to register such cases, however, none during lockdown.
“Last year during the same period a majority of fatalities were recorded during the Easter Holidays as people were travelling to celebrate the holidays at church, some with their loved ones. There has been a drastic fall in general accidents countrywide, usually that period has become too common to go from having a good time to ending up in a tragic situation due to road accidents,” Mosimanegape explained.
He added fatal accidents have been the country’s major problem being the leading cause of death amongst citizens, especially the youth. He pleaded with motorists to be patient on the roads as most of the accidents occur as a result of drivers’ bad attitudes.
He further said a number of factors have been identified as risk behaviours commonly displayed by drivers with over-speeding being the one that stands out.
“It is obvious that when buying a car one looks at speed as a selling point. Sadly, our roads have not been designed for such fast cars as there are no freeways, with livestock roaming along the roads and the road having a lot of potholes, drivers are exposed to danger,” Mosimanegape said.