Decade of Action in Botwsana

Botswana attaches great significance to effective strategies to improve road safety as a preventable public health and road transport problem. Hence, the Botswana Government through the support of the Ministry of Health as well as the Ministry of Transport and Communications, and other key stakeholders, launched the Decade of Action for Road Safety on 20 June as a way of continuing efforts to effectively promote road safety initiatives.

According to Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr Victor Paledi, 1.2 million people die annually in road traffic crashes worldwide. He said that Botswana’s statistics show that in 2010, 18,978 accidents were recorded and ‘both statistics and experience show that we deal with the same problems in our road safety environment every year in terms of causes, population age group and location.’

Launching the Decade of Action for Road Safety, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Frank Ramsden, attributed the cause of road accidents to excessive speed, pedestrian errors, careless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. He said, “Successful strategies should recognise the need for a systematic approach through which various disciplines work together towards the improvement of road safety.”