15 Nov 2017

Motor Vehicle Accidents (MVA) chief executive officer, Mr Michael Tlhagwane says most road accidents that occur in Botswana are due to driver negligence rather than vehicle fault.

Speaking at the unveiling of a monument for former Matsha students road victims at Dutlwe on Monday, Mr Tlhagwane said such negligence mostly included speeding, careless overtaking and drinking while driving.

Mr Tlhagwane said such carelessness accounted for 90 per cent of all the total road accidents with men being the most culprits.

He said in most cases, men were breadwinners in families and therefore such deaths would always have everlasting consequences, especially financially on the remaining family members.

He also indicated that the age group most involved in car accidents ranged between 21-45 years, which he described as the cream in as far as level of education is concerned.

He added that apart from them being breadwinners, their deaths is also a loss to the economic prosperity of the country.

In 2014, he said 377 lives were lost in road accidents while in 2015 and 2016, numbers rose to 411 and 450 respectively. He thus advised people to always make thorough inspections of their vehicles before they embarked on a journey.

“Not only should you inspect your vehicles, but you must also inspect yourselves to ensure that you are also fit to drive,” he said.

He also advised the public to always use public transport whenever they embarked on long journeys rather than resorting to hitch-hiking.

“Such lifts, especially combis that do not have permits are the most involved in accident as most of them are not tested for roadworthiness,” he said.

He also said victims of road accidents that involved permitted public transporters can be quickly assisted as transport owners were easier to trace than pirating transporters.

“So as we prepare for the festive season, we are very much aware that there would be many pirates plying our roads with unfit vehicles and road accidents will increase. We therefore advice you to shun such pirates and use registered transporters because you do not know their safety or that of its drivers,” he said.

On other issues, Mr Tlhagwane indicated that his organisation would be available to assist the community of Dutlwe and everybody involved in their effort to further develop the monument site to make it a tourist attraction. BOPA