Five people a day die on Mozambican roads

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Five people a day die on Mozambican roads

1:15 CAT | 01 Sep 2017

O País

Road accidents continue to be a leading cause of death in Mozambique, with at least five people dying every day on the country’s roads, according to data released on Wednesday by the National Institute of Land Transport (INATER).

As a result, the government and partners are consulting stakeholders on a road safety policy aimed at curbing the phenomenon. The campaign will cover the whole country and began in Maputo City on Wednesday with a ceremony led by the governor, Iolanda Cintura.

“Car accidents continue to be of major concern to the Mozambican state, with 2,900 road accidents occurring annually, causing 1,800 deaths, or five deaths per day,” Cintura said. “The consultation seminar for the elaboration of the policy on road safety will serve to establish goals that will allow us to visualise the path ahead of what and how to do so as to mitigate the problem,” she added.

A 2015 World Health Organisation report describes road accidents as a public health problem, an aspect alluded to by the National Institute of Land Transport (INATTER), which hopes to reduce the number of road accidents by 50 percent over a period of 10 years.

Amílcar Pacule, Director of Technical Regulation at INATTER, elaborates: “In the last six years, there were 39,000 victims of road accidents: 10,000 deaths, 15,000 injured, 13,000 of them seriously, in a scenario assuming nine road accidents a day with five deaths and three injured, seriously or lightly. These figures indicate the seriousness of the problem in our country.”

The traffic police, who are also involved, have welcomed the initiative, but stress the need for practical implementation after publication, so that it doesn’t remain a solution on paper only.

In Mozambique, the poor state of roads contributes to accidents involving vehicles and pedestrians. At least 1,481 people died and another 3,776 were injured in the 1,951 road accidents recorded in Mozambique last year.

The city and province of Maputo record the highest number but have fewer deaths than Nampula, Sofala and Zambézia with 198, 196 and 195 deaths respectively. Niassa has the fewest road accidents.

Source: O País