05 Mar 2019

The Botswana Police Service, in conjunction with the Department of Road Transport and Safety, recently launched Jwaneng Young Drivers Safety Committee. 

Coordinator of the committee, Constable Lesego Baitirile, said the committee would enable the police to come up with strategies of fighting escalating road accidents in the area. 

“Some of our strategies are to advice young drivers to leave their vehicles when they go for drinking. The committee will, among other things, help to report reckless driving and encourage the public to buy and read the Road Traffic Act,” he explained.

Constable Baitirile also noted that statistics showed that the youth were the most affected by road carnage, therefore they needed to be at the forefront in preaching road safety.

For his part, the district traffic officer, Superintendent Gaontebale Mojobe said Batswana between the ages of 18 and 40 were not only victims in road accidents, but perpetrators as well. 

He said in 2016, the country recorded 450 causalities of which 268 were youth and the following year 444 fatalities were recorded with 247 being the youth while in 2018, 462 fatalities were recorded in which 181 were the youth. 

“As for Jwaneng district, we recorded 250 accidents in 2016 in which six youth died while in 2017, 295 accidents were recorded with six fatalities and one of them was a youth.  Out of the 272 accidents in 2018, there were five fatalities and four of them were the youth,” he said. 

He said such statistics called for action to uproot the problem and find solutions.

Superintendent Mojobe said there was a clear indication that the youth were contributing to majority of the road accidents. 

He noted that the rate at which youth perish in road accidents was a concern because it had potential to negatively affect the dreams and economic progress of the nation. 

He said the programme would reach out to youth on road safety issues through platforms such as workshops, kgotla meetings and others. 

The programme also intended to engage the youth and encourage them to mainstream and incorporate road safety awareness as an integral part of their agenda at various clubs, associations and organisational activities. Ends