19 Dec 2016

Majority of roads accidents can be attributed to reckless behaviour on the roads.

Botswana Police Service’s Assistant Commissioner Reginald Mathaba said this during the Gaborone region sub-district road safety day in remembrance of road traffic victims in Mogobane recently.

He said amid various message and information of road accidents, behaviour change on the roads still caused a concern and contributed to many deaths and accidents.

 Assistant Commissioner Mathaba said last year 1 7654 accidents were recorded through the country in which 411 people lost their lives.  

He said the number of road accidents did not include accidents, which were not reported to the police due to some reasons.

Out of the accidents reported, 1 364 serious injuries were recorded while 4 428 minor injuries were recorded.

Assistant Commissioner Mathaba said the growing trend of road accidents pointed to negligence on driver’s part.

He cautioned that most accidents happened on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning and the age bracket of 16 years to 45 years was mostly affected.

He said this deprived families of their caregivers and led to family poverty and economic loss for the country.

General manager Medical Services at Boitekanelo College Dr Weledu Ngwaisanyi said first aid was most critical and had to be administered correctly and accordingly. Dr Ngwaisanyi said failure to administer first aid could lead to loss of life and severe injuries to the affected victims.

She regretted that most of the accidents affect the young and working force of the country hence impacting negatively on the country’s economy.

Dr Ngwaisanyi encouraged drivers to drive with extra caution all the times when using the country roads.  She said road injuries were not only physical but lead to post traumatic stress on the part of survivors.

While the acting deputy director of the department of transport and road safety, Mr Godwin Tlhogo said around the about 1.2 million people lose their lives yearly due to road crashes.

He said this affect the economies of countries money will have to be spent repairing some of the affected infrastructures, vehicles and some of the world talent lost.

The event was celebrated under the theme, vital post-crash actions, medical care, investigation and justice. ENDS