07 May 2019

The Divisional Commander North Central, Senior Assistant Commissioner, Christopher Mbulawa, says the road safety situation in Botswana continues to be a cause for concern, despite police efforts to combat accidents.

Mr Mbulawa observed that most road traffic accidents occur on weekends, with high numbers of deaths.

Speaking during the launch of ‘Youth Drivers Outreach programme’ in Letlhakane in the Boteti sub-district recently, he said although there were some successes in some areas, the number of accidents were still a concern.

The theme of the event was: Sustaining Botswana’s legacy by cultivating responsible use of roads by the youth: Leaders of Tomorrow.

He said the analysis on the causes of accidents depicted a disturbing trend of unlicensed drivers, drunken driving, speeding and disobeying road signs as major contributors.

Mr Mbulawa said traffic commanders were trying their best to fight the scourge with limited resources at their disposal.

“Road crashes have some implications on government, particularly because money used in taking care of road accident victims in hospitals could be used to develop the country. Accidents also swipe out the well trained young Batswana professionals,” he said.

He said the latest country statistics status report on road safety indicated that about 450 people lost their lives in 2016, 444 in 2017, while in 2018, 462 lives were lost and even more were left with serious injuries.

Concerning Boteti alone, Mr Mbulawa said in 2016, seven people died, in 2017 about 23 lost their lives, while in 2018, 20 people lost their lives.

Such road tragedies, he added, remained the leading cause of death among the youth aged between 18 and 40.

The senior assistant commissioner also said the Botswana Police Service records indicated that the country continued to record high numbers of road accidents, many of which resulted in serious and minor injuries and even death each year.

He said statistics further revealed that the youth were the most affected road user group.

Roads have been hard hit with many young lives lost, especially along the stretch of the A1 road, Serowe/Orapa road and Serowe/Francistown road, he said.

Mr Mbulawa said government and Batswana were concerned about such high statistics, hence the joint intervention measure as a mitigating factor.

“It is therefore the reason why people are gathered in various districts to launch the ‘youth outreach programme’ campaign, which is a holistic intervention by road safety stakeholders.

This action is needed now hence the appropriateness of the theme which speaks to all as it propels people to act against this social ill to ensure that roads are safer,” he said. ENDS