Senior Manager Injury Prevention at MVA, Mompati Bontsibokae, shared the findings of the study at the 2024 Road Safety Stakeholders Engagement meeting held at Travel Lodge recently.
He highlighted that the overall behaviour index, excluding speeding, stands at 60%, indicating a significant risk of 40%, which explains the persistently high number of accidents in the city. Bontsibokae emphasised that drivers' compliance with seat belt usage, traffic signs, and signals, as well as distractions, was at a concerning 67%.
“Non-compliance indicates a decline in road safety awareness amongst motorists, contributing to the rise in fatal accidents in the city,” he said. The situation regarding passengers was particularly alarming, with only 29% adhering to seat belt rules and child restraint usage. Bontsibokae expressed concern over the high number of injuries resulting from accidents. “Imagine if 20–30% of crashes causing injuries involve loss of control or collision; this explains why we currently have 155 people in wheelchairs,” he noted. Regarding seat belt usage, Bontsibokae highlighted a worrying figure of 52%, indicating a significant number of motorists drive without wearing this essential safety component, despite its critical role in reducing injuries and deaths. He also noted that 58.6% of drivers did not use mobile phones while driving, while 41.4% were distracted by gadgets.
Additionally, only 23% of parents used child restraints, posing a high risk to their children in the event of an accident. Bontsibokae reported that cyclists demonstrated better behaviour, with an overall compliance rate of 82%, contributing to only one percent of total fatalities.
However, he stressed the importance of drivers obeying traffic signs and signals at intersections (89% compliant), as 10% non-compliance could lead to numerous casualties. He urged participants to collaborate with MVA to reduce road deaths. "Last year we had 36 crashes claiming 119 lives in which a single crash took 23 lives, something which calls for everyone’s effort to end road deaths," he said. Participants at the Road Safety Stakeholders Engagement gathering pointed out the need to prioritise road safety in the National Development Plan and urged the government to take proactive measures to address the issue.
