28 Feb 2018

Deputy divisional traffic officer commanding - South Central region, Mr Andrew Montshiwa says the nation cannot manage to fight road accidents if it is not done collectively by all stakeholders.

Speaking at the launch of the 360 degrees, Road Safety Expo 2018 in Gaborone on February 27, Mr Montshiwa commended Design Surgery for organising a road safety show that will see stakeholders from the traffic industry, government, policy makers, enforcement authorities, infrastructure developers and the general public gathered together to come up with preventative methods to curb road accidents.

“I just want to commend you for having found it fit to partner with us and other stakeholders to fight road accidents for we cannot save the lives of Batswana if we are not going to do it collectively,” he said.

Mr Montshiwa further said road accidents affected all including the police who are always the first to arrive at the accident scene.

“To attend to one fatal accident is traumatic to those who attend to accident scenes, I hope this platform will help address these issues to see to it that collective effort is used to fight and eliminate unnecessary fatalities,” he said.

He added that Botswana loses about 400 lives to road accidents yearly, that translating to the population of certain settlements that in a way explains that Botswana loses a settlement per annum.

For his part, principal health officer at the ministry of health, Mr Michael Mitswi said empirical evidence shows continuing road crash trends in the country, resulting in death and serious injuries, particularly affecting the youth.

“In 2016, a total number of 18 373 road accidents were recorded as compared to 17 654 the preceding year,” he said.

He said in terms of fatalities, a total number of 450 people died in road crashes in 2016 as compared to 411 in 2015.

He further said post-crash response continues to be a critical factor in the survival of those affected.

He said about 50 per cent of deaths from road traffic crashes occured within minutes, either at the scene or while in transit to hospital, saying the national road safety strategy calls for among other things, that crash scenes be managed quickly, safely, professionally and efficiently at the same time ensuring hazardous spills are dealt with safely and according to international standards.

The 360 degrees, Road Safety Expo 2018 will be held in Gaborone from May 24 to 27 when stakeholders from various organisations will convene to tackle and combat road accidents crisis. Ends