The Deputy Commissioner of Police ,operations, Solomon Mantswe, has expressed worry over the increasing number of fatal road accidents.
Mantswe was speaking at the just ended capacity building seminar for senior traffic officers hosted in Selebi-Phikwe. According to statistics shared by the deputy commissioner, during the past festive season, deaths as a result of road accident shot up from 440 to 687 compared to the same period in 2022. “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,” Matswe shared.
However, whilst there was an increase in road fatalities, Mantswe shared that there were improvements on the year-on-year national road safety situation. “In the just ended year, we recorded a modest 2% reduction in fatalities as we lost a total of 396 people compared to 404 in 2022. While these figures are in line with the sustained improvement in the national road safety indices in recent years, the number of lives lost annually on the country’s roads is still unacceptably high,” he further shared. The police chief also said factors contributing to the increase are excessive speeding and motorists who continue to drive under the influence of alcohol or other depressants. “Even more concerning in recent statistics are the pedestrians, who are increasingly becoming overrepresented in road traffic deaths. This development is a call to us to come up with initiatives specifically targeted at addressing the plight of these vulnerable category of road users,” said Mantswe.
The A3 road alone according to the police contributed 40 deaths as compared to only two deaths in the previous year. “Another disturbing revelation from the accident statistics is that the 21-35 years age groups are the most represented in the casualty figures. This is not surprising as these age groups are the most travelled and most active across our communities. It is again not surprising that as well represented as they are in the injury categories. They also form a large part of those responsible for inconsiderable driving practices compared to all other age groups,” Mantswe further stated.
