07 Mar 2017

Assistant Superintendent Kaleba Mabotenyane said the total number of fatal crashes in Botswana is increasing annually, despite efforts by Botswana Police and stakeholders to reduce them.

That, Ass Supt Mabotenyane said called for a continuous and concerted effort to ensure that road users were safety conscious to such an extent that accidents and causalities were reduced to a minimum level.

He said this during taxi drivers and government drivers workshop organised by Ghanzi district road safety committee recently.
 Research made, he noted depicted an increase in both recorded accidents and deaths.

“In 2016, a total number of 18 373 road accidents were recorded in our country as compared to 17 654 the preceding year. In terms of fatalities, a total of 450 people died in road crashes in 2016 as compared to 411 in 2015,” he said.

Also, he stated that there had been an increase in number of deaths, minor and major injuries in Ghanzi policing area from 2014 to 2016.
 “In Ghanzi policing area, eight people lost lives in car accidents in 2014. The number increased to 10 people in 2015. In 2016 also, there was an increase as 14 lives were lost in car accidents,” he said.

Most affected age group, he said was between 21 and 35 years, adding that males were the most affected gender group.
In their efforts to curb road accidents, he said there was intensive law enforcement, which involved roadblocks and speed traps.

In addition, he said they educate pedestrians and drivers through road side campaigns, school outreach, churches, kgotla meetings and hospital visits.
He further warned residents of Ghanzi not to walk on road shoulders as they were drivers’ emergency stopping lane.
Also, he advised drivers to avoid distracting activities like lighting a cigarette and using cellphones, while driving.

Taxi drivers said there was need to have workshop on how to behave on the road for the pedestrians.
For his part, Mr Paul Setswe from Department of Road Transport and Safety implored drivers to be very cautious of hazards and to have a clear vision of any possibility of danger.

He further advised law enforcement officers not to  concentrate on trying to reduce car accidents, but should aim at behavioural change, which involved educating drivers on proper ways of behaving while driving.
Mr Setswe also said government should start rewarding drivers who drove many years without causing accidents, adding that this would encourage drivers to be cautious and reduce road accidents.

He further advised drivers, more especially taxi drivers to always rest because most car accidents were caused by fatigue.
Mr Peter Podile from the Fire Department emphasised the importance of having a first aid kits and fire extinguishers in cars.

He advised drivers to always check if their fire extinguishers had not expired, adding that it was dangerous to keep an expired fire extinguisher as it could explode.
Mr Podile further advised drivers to refrain from of putting a new sticker without servicing the fire extinguisher. ENDS