30 Nov 2016

The Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Mr Thapelo Olopeng has raised a concern over the rising rate of road fatalities in the country.

Speaking at the Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund road safety awareness campaign in Tonota on Saturday, Mr Olopeng said statistics  indicate that this year 382 lives have been lost countrywide.

He said in 2014 and 2015, 377 and 411 lives were lost respectively. Furthermore, he said statistics revealed that most of the lives lost were of youth aged between 15-29.

He said the statistics further revealed that 50 per cent of the accidents took place along the A1 road.

He noted that in 2014, P122 million was paid in claims while P149 million was paid last year by the MVA Fund.

Apart from the lives lost, Minister Olopeng said road accidents were robbing the country funds that could be used for developments.

He appealed to stakeholders to change their mindset towards road safety, and urged leaders  to come up with programmes that could curb road accidents.

He added that in his constituency he introduced Remmogo festival which was aimed at discouraging residents from going to far places for entertainment on Christmas eve.

He noted that according to Tonota police reports no accidents and other crimes were recorded on that day, and he encouraged other MPs to come up with initiatives that could reduce accidents.

District No 1 Traffic Officer, Superintendent Alison Mbaiwa said in his area between January and October this year 909 road accidents that resulted in 33 fatalities were recorded.

Supt Mbaiwa said last year 989 accidents that led to 27 deaths and 64 serious injuries were recorded while in 2014, 953 accidents that led to 23 deaths and 67 serious injuries were registered.

He said the violation of the Traffic Act such as speeding, drunken driving, use of cellphones and failure to obey road signs and markings were the main causes of road accidents.

Supt Mbaiwa noted that since September when the Tonota/Francistown road was opened, five traffic lights have been hit.

He said drivers perceive the violation of the Traffic Act as not a crime and that until they change their attitudes, road accident would continue to be on the rise. ENDS