Malawi moves to enhance road safety

Malawi on Sunday launched the National Road Safety Strategy as part of African Road Safety Day commemoration with emphasis on passengers to be proactive on issues of road safety.

During the launch and celebrations at Nyambadwe Primary School in Blantyre, Minister of Transport and Public Works Francis Kasaila and Minister of Health Peter Kumpalume and officials from the Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services (DRTSS) unveiled the strategy that, among other things, seeks to achieve improved funding towards road safety, improved road traffic safety management, improved legislation and enforcement and reduction in severity of road accident injuries.

Kasaila said road traffic accidents have been on the rise over the years, putting a strain on resources in many sectors, including health. He said there is need for more resolve, especially on penalties on all offenders.

Said Kasaila: “Road crashes have silently taken more lives than most of the illnesses we talk about. As a ministry, we have discovered that among many factors that have contributed to the rise of road accidents in the country include behaviour of road users that include drivers, passengers and pedestrians. Other factors are to do with poor road infrastructure. We want to see those who violate road traffic regulations punished without regard to their status in society.”

During the event, the minister reported that 1 060 people were killed in road accidents while 975 were injured in 2014, putting the number at 3 228 since 2012, a situation he described as “unhealthy” as it is mostly affecting the productive 25-45 age group.

According to DRTSS officials, the strategy is in line with United Nations Decade of Road Safety that runs from 2011 to 2020.

Director for DRTSS, Jacques Manong’a, demanded a change in attitude from passengers whom he said have a role to play to ensure road safety in the country.

He said: “In conducting our duties, we are faced with serious challenges in behaviour of passengers as they are first to be at loggerheads with traffic law enforcement officers. Sometimes they even collaborate with those breaking the law.

“Nowadays passengers have thrown all caution to the wind forgetting their responsibility towards safeguarding their lives. This must change if we are to see a reduction of road accidents.”

Manong’a said the approach to road safety issues now has been diversified to include many other stakeholders who can assist to make the roads of Malawi safer than they are currently.

The commemoration, held under the theme Passengers, Be Responsible For Your Safety on the Road, started with a visit by the two ministers and other officials to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) casualty ward and reached a climax with testimonies from road accident victims who called for more collaborative approach to make the country’s roads safer. n