2, 130 perish in road accidents since 2017
In the last five years, over 2, 000 people have lost their lives in accidents on Botswana’s roads, the Transport Minister has revealed.
Disclosing the startling statistic in parliament recently, Minister of Transport and Communications, Thulaganyo Segokgo revealed that since 2017 there have been 1, 719 road accidents recorded throughout the country.
This has led to the deaths of 2, 130 unfortunate souls.
Segokgo listed rundown roads in poor condition, drink driving and speeding as the main cause of accidents and the biggest reasons why the death toll was so high.
Breaking down the heartbreaking figures, the Minister noted the country’s primary road, the A1, which runs from Ramokgwebana and Ramatlabama, recorded the highest casualty rate. In total, the highway has seen 248 deaths from 415 accidents in the past five years.
Other big contributors are the A3, which stretches from Francistown through Nata to Maun and finally Ghanzi, recording 92 fatalities and the A12 which saw 77 deaths.
Segokgo further disclosed his Ministry intends to expand some highway sections into dual carriageways as well as install more traffic lights as part of their plan to reduce road accidents.
He declared the Ministry is set to undertake a Roads Conditions Survey to determine the state of roads in the country, adding they will engage consultants for the job ‘soon’.