Curtailing road accidents : top six priorities

The laws on road offense will be reinforced soon. Various announcements were made by the Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth last weekend during the launch of the national road safety campaign, ‘Ensam Pa Laisse Koltar Touy Nou Fami’ (Let’s come together so as to prevent merciless killings of our close ones on roads).

Will these be enough to sensitise people about the dangers of the road? News on Sunday gauges the points of view of various stakeholders on how to curb the increasing trend of road accidents in our paradise island.

157 persons lost their lives in road accidents in 2017 and since the beginning of this year, 22 victims have already been archived for these fatalities. These figures are in fact alarming, as we note there is an increasing trend in the number of accidents. In 2014, there were 125 fatal accidents and 137 people died. In 2015 the number increased by 7.9% and 139 people died due to road accidents.

During the launch of the national road safety campaign, ‘Ensam Pa Laisse Koltar Touy Nou Fami’ on Saturday 17th February at the Lunch Room of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister Pravind Juganuth stated that he finds the situation extremely worrying and that penalties should be more severe.

For the Prime Minister, the aim of the campaign is to bring about a change in the mindset of road users in order to reduce the number of accidents. “We cannot continue seeing these tragedies take place. This is why we should make people become more conscious. They must act in a responsible way and not put lives of others in danger,” he uttered. Pravind Jugnauth in fact announced a series of measures which, he pointed out, are discussed in the Council of Ministers and followed by consultations with the judiciary.

The number of offenses related to traffic violations will shift from 11 to 24. The Minister also announced that the amount of fines under the ‘fixed penalty’ will increase consequently and that the police will ask the court to suspend a driver’s license if the latter has committed six cumulative offenses. Pravind Jugnauth added that the Dangerous Driving Act will be amended.

The fine for an offender who has committed such an offense will be increased. In the event of a second offense, the amount of the fine will be doubled and will result in the automatic suspension of the offender’s driving license. The head of the government stated that these warnings should not be taken lightly.

“We mean business,” he asserted.
However, will these measures be enough to sensitise people and reduce the number of accidents? Various stakeholders share with us their views on the measures announced and also offer a few solutions to curb the number of fatalities on our roads.

1. Review the licence delivery

The President of Victim Support Group, Raj Mootoosamy, argues that the main solution to curb accidents is to review the way driving licences are given. He remarks that motorcyclists are given their driving license after they complete a test inside the Line Barracks. He believes that such a test does not reflect reality.

“Passing just a simple test does not mean the motorcyclists are fully qualified to ride his motorcycle on the motorway, under any weather conditions and at any time. Another point is that while taking the test, the motorcyclists are all alone but when they drive, they do have passengers with them.” He further adds that just a handful of motorcyclists have the notion of mechanics. He claims that the same are applicable to other vehicles drivers.

“Many of our young drivers are not ready to face the road. They may have learnt for some months only but that does not mean the drivers can drive in any condition. For instance, when they are at learning stage, they cannot drive on motorway but as soon as they get the driving license, they are allowed to drive there.”

Additionally, Manoj Raj Kumar, secretary of the Approved Driving Instructor Association, highlights that the system of giving driving licenses has become too exam-oriented. “Young drivers just do ‘parrot learning’ to pass their first test. Then follow training by instructors to bag their driving license. So there is no true learning and they do not really understand the real functioning of the rules and principles. So, there is need to review the whole system.” 

For the President of the Fellow Bikers (Mauritius), there are serious that can be taken at the level of licence delivery. “For example the licence should be delivered on a probation basis to new drivers. They will only get their official licence two to three years if they prove that they are good drivers and have not committed repetitive offenses during this lapse of time,” explains Pierre-Yves Roten.

However he trusts that repression is not the solution. “Instead of fixing the problem it may cause it more issues at various levels. What we need are concrete and reliable measures.”

2. Education and Justice

Raj Mootoosamy underscores that prevention is one of the key solutions. He states that it is important to educate all drivers and make them understand that a small error while driving can provoke serious damages.

“Repression has never worked around the world and it will not work here also. A slogan like “Drive Fast, You will Die Fast” does not work, as it depicts a more negative message. The slogan must be more positive so that it will make drivers reflect on their behaviour while driving. So, there is need to educate the drivers even more.”
Similarly, Manoj Raj Kumar is of the view that the slogan used does not reflect reality. “The new slogan is not true. Road never kills. But it is the carelessness of drivers that puts their own life and the lives of others in danger. We should educate them in a more positive manner.”

According to the Managing Director of Vivo Energy Mauritius, the measures announced are enforcement-oriented. “This is a very good approach, namely for hard-core repeat offenders,” says Kiran Juwaheer.

Yet, he states, over and above these measures, a sound road safety policy and management needs to be supported by education and involvement of partners. “We know, from the data, that young road users run greater risks; in the same line, young children are more likely to adopt behavior changes. We strongly believe that road safety education starts at an early age.”

This is why, explains Kiran Juwaheer, the Cité Zen road safety campaign was launched years ago. “The Cité Zen road safety campaign initiated by Vivo Energy Mauritius in 2013 targets school children and students. Safety is our priority. Our truck drivers, customers and employees follow regular preventive driving courses and in-cab assessments. We monitor our road safety performance closely, encouraging our business stakeholders to observe and report potential incidents so that we may take corrective actions before the incidents occur, in our attempts to achieve the goal of zero-incident,” he explains.

Alain Jeannot, on his part, utters that figures prove that we have an issue with discipline. “In schools, for instance, more than 30 percent of students are involved in assaults within the very school premises. Juvenile delinquency has increased by 500% since year 2000 and we record one road traffic offence every two minutes. In that context, repression should of course be increased but justice must also be seen to be done. If you kill a person while driving recklessly and get away with a few months of community service, it is certainly not a deterrent,” he argues.

According to Pierre-Yves Roten, the island is backwards when it comes to road traffic regulations. “No one respects the road regulations and people drive the way they want. Some people do not even know the code regulations. I do not believe that the measures announced by the Prime Minister will bring changes besides causing people to have some be apprehensive for some time. I strongly believe that the changes will take place with education. We urgently need to education the Mauritians in terms of road safety. This must start early namely in schools, among our youth, in private and public institutions, in companies and businesses. An education campaign must be done not only once but on a consistent and regular basis,” says the President of the Fellow Bikers (Mauritius).

He adds that the government must organise a meeting with all stakeholders. “We see that the police and the road traffic branch operate separately. We as the Fellow Bikers as well as other associations and groups of riders and bikers are ready to give a helping hand. But it is unfortunate that they do not reach to us for solutions. For example we provide advice to young bikers who join our group. We tutor them and provide them important information on how to ride, what are precautions to take among others.”

3. Infrastructure for pedestrians

Alain Jeannot trusts that we should urgently provide more infrastructures for pedestrians. “The experience was done in Hong Kong in the middle eighties and results were seen quite rapidly. Now Hong Kong is one of the safest roads. We need to prepare our seniors to use the road and younger ones to pay attention to them. They are the most vulnerable with regards to pedestrian victims. We also need to be very vigilant with vans commuting employees. I have had complaints from people in the North that some of them tend to drive fast in order to cumulate trips,” says the founder of the NGO ‘Prevention Routiere Avant Tout’.

The latter adds that “pedestrians need to be watched at vulnerable places like highways where they are not allowed to cross but they still do so the most naturally. Every year, an average of four lives is lost to such carelessness and at the same places.”

4. Mindset and behaviour change

Manoj Raj Kumar avers that the authorities are already aware of the main causes of accidents and many sensitising campaigns have been conducted, yet the mentality and behaviour of people remain unchanged.

“The behaviour of people on the road is deplorable. Despite all the campaigns, the results are alarming. The death rates on our roads are increasing day by day. It is time to re-invent all the campaigns. We need professionals to help in changing the mindset of people,” he says.   

5. A reward and punishment system

Manoj Raj Kumar remarks that for the time being, Mauritius can work on the reward system but should rather focus on the punishment system. “If people are abusing the laws by driving recklessly and carelessly, they should be punished. Despite the fact that there are fines, we still witness abuses because either the fines are not too high or maybe because they have some kind of influence, they go off the hook. A need for repression will have the desired effect. For example, a motorcyclist drives fast because of thrill and adrenaline. If he is caught, he is asked to pay a fine which he will abide by because it is in his capacity but the thrill he had is much higher than the fine. So, the authorities must come with laws or fines which are much higher than any pleasure or thrill.” 

6. Discourage use of Powered Two-Wheelers

The founder of the NGO ‘Prevention Routiere Avant Tout’ claims that he is satisfied with the announcements and measures made by the Prime Minister. “It is a strong signal at the highest level. The people look towards the government for signals. It’s like in a family, the head of the family needs to set rules and stick to them. As soon as a ‘laissez faire’ attitude sets in, the interests of the family is at stake,” says Alain Jeannot. However he trusts that while the measures taken are laudable, we should not ignore the potential weakness of our fleet composition.

“I have been involved in road safety issues since 2005 and came out with the conclusion that the high percentage of powered two wheelers on our roads is our weakest link. It is very simple to understand: a Powered Two-Wheeler (PTW) is more than 20 times more at risk than another vehicle. Hence the highest your PTW percentage is, the more accrued are your risks. In a country like Singapore, there are 100 deaths on the roads, more than 50% of whom are riders (motor vehicle). And you know what? Only 15% of the fleet is PTW,” he explains.

Alain Jeannot adds that in France, only 5% of the fleet is PTW but riders count for 25% fatalities. “We need to consider a system to discourage the use of PTW by offering better and more comfortable public transportation. If the PTW volume keeps on rising, I am afraid it will affect results adversely,” he states.