Let's reduce the carnage on our roads -Mosigi

GOTHATAONE MOENG
Staff Writer | Monday April 11, 2011 00:00

Speaking at a breakfast meeting held at the Phakalane Golf Estate on Friday morning, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Orapeleng Mosigi said Botswana should strive to halve its average of 500 fatalities per year. 

The breakfast meeting was held to sensitise stakeholders about the imminent launch of the United Nations (UN) originated and World Health Organisation (WHO) supported Decade of Action For Road Safety. The decade, which begins this year and ends in 2020, will be officially launched on May 11.

Mosigi warned that because of the country's small population and its slow growth rate if no action is taken now to reduce fatalities, road accidents may in 2030, have overtaken HIV/AIDS as the biggest cause of death among people in the 20-30 age group.

Dr Eugene Nyarko, the WHO country representative, said the organisation's 2004 decision to highlight road safety as an emerging public health and developmental problem came after their realisation that only a few countries have road safety laws that are 'sufficiently comprehensive in scope'.

Nyarko said this makes it difficult for law enforcers to take any action against unsafe road behaviours. He said this problem is compounded by the fact that over 90 percent of road traffic deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, which ironically have only 48 percent of the world's registered vehicles.

Nyarko also said that road accidents kill almost 1.3 million people yearly, adding that if no action is taken, road traffic fatalities are forecast, by the year 2020, to rise to more than 1.9 million deaths per year.

In 2009, the Commission for Global Road Safety called for a Decade of Action for Road Safety, calling for 'a concerted effort across all societies' to address the looming road traffic catastrophe. The United Nations General Assembly in March last year officially proclaimed the Decade of Action for Road Safety.

For his part, Deputy Commissioner of Police Kenny Kapinga said it is important that people change their mindsets and their behaviour on the road.  He also emphasised the need for personal integrity by road users.  He said while the Botswana Police Service has a problem of police officers who are bribed by motorists, there are also civilians who drive unlicensed or with illegaly obtained licences.  He emphasised the need to have a foolproof licensing system, saying only people who have been proven fit to drive should be on the roads. Other stakeholders present at the meeting included representatives from the Department of Road Transport and Safety (DRTS), the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, the Foundation for the Automobile and Society, Kgalagadi Breweries as well as senior government officials.