The Voice (Francistown)
11 March 2008
Francistown — The 2007 road accident statistics along the Lobatse/Francistown segment of the A1 road is 2 933, says the Assistant Minister of Works and Transport, Frank Ramsden.
Out of these, there were 141 fatalities, 411 passengers were seriously injured while 1 223 had minor injuries. The causes of the accidents were careless driving, losing control of the vehicle, excessive speed, collision with animals on the road and drunken driving.
Answering a question in Parliament on Tuesday, Ramsden attributed the accidents to human error and deficiencies in the road environment.
"My ministry with the assistance of Swedish International Development Corporation Agency (SIDA) is planning to formulate a comprehensive road safety strategy for Botswana," he said.
Ramsden said the exercise would commence this financial year.
The ministry will table urgent amendments of the sections of the Road Traffic Act and Road Transport (Permits) Act during the June/July meeting to provide for traffic cameras, Demerit Point System and increase of penalties.
"These amendments are meant to deter motorists from committing traffic offences".
Ramsden said the Department of Road Transport and Safety, in conjunction with other stakeholders, would intensify the ongoing road safety education and campaigns.
He was answering a question from the MP for Selebi-Phikwe West, Kavis Kario, who asked for statistics of the accidents along A1 particularly the Lobatse/Gaborone, Gaborone/Dibete, Dibete/Mahalapye, Mahalapye/Palapye, Palapye/Serule, Serule/Francistown road. He also sought the main causes of the accidents along the segment as well as the intention of the ministry in eliminating the top five causes.
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