15 Apr 2020

Road accidents have decreased by 86.7 per cent from 211 in 2019 to 28 in 2020 during the just-ended Easter Holidays due to the COVID-19 pandemic regulations.

A media release from Botswana Police Service states that the notable decrease in statistics in both road traffic accidents and violations are attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has since restricted a large mobility of both people and vehicular from one area to the other, particularly on weekends, month ends and public holidays.

The release further states that the number of fatal road accidents has also decreased by 80 per cent from five in the previous year to one in the current year.

“The resultant fatalities further went down from six in the previous year to one in the current year,” says the release.

Furthermore, it states that the number of serious injuries recorded declined from 33 in 2019 to five in 2020, translating to 84.8 per cent decrease, whilst minor injuries also went down from 38 in 2019 to five in 2020.

It also indicates that the total number of traffic offences recorded decreased from 7 750 in 2019 to 955 in 2020.

“The total number of drivers, who were subjected to breath alcohol tests, significantly dropped by 99 per cent from 711 in 2019 to seven in 2020,” says the release. Ends