Road accidents, deaths down 31%

Police say driving under the influence of alcohol is one of the causes of road traffic accidents and deaths in the country.

National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya said this in an interview yesterday following the release of their service’ third quarter report which shows that road traffic deaths have dropped by 31 percent.

According to the report, 292 deaths were recorded from 1 452 accidents between July and September this year compared to the corresponding period last year, when the country registered 422 deaths were recorded from 1 969 road accidents.

Said Kalaya: “Causes of road accidents have been failure by road users, especially drivers to observe road traffic rules and regulations. Specifically, they include over-speeding, drink and drive and failure to respect other road users on the roads.”

Kalaya attributed the drop in deaths to effective strategies police continue to put in place and implement.

He said: “These include strategic deployment of traffic police officers on the roads who are working day and night, awareness campaign on road traffic rules and regulations targeting road users and enforcing the use of tools and equipment such as breathalysers.”

For the previous three years, the number of fatal accidents has been on the rise despite various intervention, among other stakeholders.

Between January and December 2021, police recorded 1 444 fatalities from 9 416 road accidents which represented an average 18 percent increase when compared to statistics of the correspondent period the previous year.

From January and December 2020, there were 1 221 fatalities from 10 799 reported road accidents.

In an earlier interview, local road safety specialist Chifwede Hara said the country’s public awareness has not been effectively executed; hence, the surge in road accident fatalities.

A recent study by Kamuzu Central Hospital, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health whose results were published in mid- 2021, showed that alcohol is one of the significant factors contributing to road accidents. According to the United Nations, road traffic crashes cost most countries three percent of their gross domestic product.