28 Jan 2019

Tyres that come with import second hand cars are said to be one of the highest contributors to road accidents in Botswana.

Speaking at a schools road safety clubs workshop at Letlhakeng recently, Letlhakeng Police traffic officer, Sergeant Mogorosi Moremi indicated that most of those tyres were specifically made for cold weather conditions from where the vehicles originated, and that when they get to Botswana, where the weather is hot, the tyres tend to easily burst and cause fatal accidents.

“As the police, the advice we can give to buyers of these vehicles is to change the tyres before they take the vehicles to the roads. 

It is also our wish that a vehicle should not be given a road worthiness certificate if it is still fitted with import tyres, but unfortunately, there is no law to that effect,” he said.

He said the absence of such legislature meant that as law enforcement, they were hamstrung in disallowing the tyres. 

Mr Moremi indicated that after one participant, Mr Johannes Basinyi from Gothibamang Primary School called for the outlawing of the tyres as they posed a risk to road users. 

Mr Moremi also implored drivers to learn the meaning of text written on the sides of tyres as it communicated vital information such as date of expiry, load the tyres could handle, among others.

“We must also note that tyres might have a good thread, but having already expired, so this poses danger because most people believe that good tyres means a good thread,” he said.

The MVA injury preventions manager, Mr Tlhabano Mmusi advised that if the buyer had noted that the tyres were not worthy, they could report traders to the council since it was the one that issued trading licenses.

“As the licensing authority, the council is empowered by law to inspect such outlets and if indeed the tyres show signs of unworthiness, trades can be ordered to stop selling them, but until there is legislature that bans the tyres totally, the police and MVA are powerless,” he said.

Mr Mmusi also indicated that the public was also to blame for supporting businesses that traded in such tyres including second hand tyres sold by the road sides.

On other issues, Mr Moremi indicated that even though there were no specific statistics on road accidents involving pupils, it was evident that students were careless on the road. 

He said such carelessness included walking on the wrong side of the road and using earphones while walking along the road.

He said that this was despite ample education done at schools on how to behave as a road user.

He also cautioned that because Letlhakeng was now more developed, it meant that the roads were busier, hence a higher risk of road accidents. 

He said in 2017, they recorded 81 road accidents in Letlhakeng policing area, two of which claimed two lives while nine lead to 14 serious injuries.

He said that last year, out of a total of 82 accidents, three claimed eight lives, while six led to 13 serious injuries. ENDS