18 killed in Mother’s Day road accidents
At least 18 people have died in road accidents during this year’s Mother’s Day celebration, an increase of about 350 percent from four deaths reported the same period last year.
Malawi Police Service data shows that out of 26 road accidents reported between Friday and Monday midnight across the country, nine people died in the Northern Region, four in the Central-East Police Region, two each in the Central-West and South-West police regions and one in the Eastern Region. The South-Eastern Police Region recorded no deaths.
However, the data shows a decrease in the number of road accidents as the country recorded 39 road accidents in last year’s Mother’s Day celebration.
In an interview yesterday, National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya observed that most of the accidents occurred due to speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol.
He said: “Data shows that people are not following road traffic rules and regulations. We deployed officers on our roads and 350 people were arrested for excess speeding while 98 were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.
“So the total number of traffic offences registered over the three-day period was 4 189.”
Out of the 18 people, eight, including seven women from Illovo Sugar (Malawi) plc Dwangwa Estate in Nkhotakota, died on Sunday night around Malaza area in Nkhata Bay District on their return from a Mother’s Day retreat at Chikale Beach.
Commenting on the matter yesterday, road safety expert Chifwede Hara said the number of casualties during this year’s Mother’s Day celebration is alarming.
He said the rising number of road accidents need to be treated as a matter of urgency and find better ways to prevent road accident-related deaths.
Said Hara: “It is government’s responsibility, motorists and even passengers, to avoid some of these road accidents. Most of these accidents happen due to drivers’ fatigue, drink and drive and that some vehicles go on the road without being properly checked.
“So we need to do more on sensitising the general public on these road safety issues because losing 18 people through road accidents in this period alone is too much for a small country like Malawi.”
Road Safety Alert Foundation (Rosaf) recently called on the police and other stakeholders to take serious steps toward addressing road accidents.
Rosaf executive director Joel Jere said their body is concerned with many accidents that could be avoided on the country’s roads.
He feared that the country will continue to lose productive citizens but also miss the target of reducing road accidents by 50 percent in 2030, as per the 2021-2030 United Nations Decade of Action on Road Safety that Malawi is signatory to.
October 15 is Mother’s Day designated to honour the contribution of mothers in this country.
