Road accidents on the rise: How to curb the trend?

Archives. 74 personnes sont mortes dans des accidents de la route depuis janvier 2016

Despite all measures announced, the number of road accidents and road victims continue to rise. Since the beginning of 2016, ten people have lost their lives in road accidents. On Thursday, Minister of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping, Nando Bodha announced a series of measures to curb the death toll. The New Year has not started in joy for some families. Indeed, ten people have died in road accidents since the beginning of 2016. This has left the whole country and the authorities in dismay. Despite the sensitisation campaigns and measures to reduce the number of accidents and deaths, the deathtoll has never been this high. In 2015, 135 people have lost their lives due to road accidents. According to Statistics Mauritius, the number of road traffic accidents increased by 12% from 23,563 in 2013 to 26,400 in 2014. Among these accidents, 125 were fatal against 119 in the preceding year, up by 5%. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8025","attributes":{"class":"media-image size-full wp-image-14052 aligncenter","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"800","height":"534","alt":"Accident"}}]] In a press conference on Thursday, Minister Nando Bodha explained that there are three elements contributing to road accidents namely: road infrastructures, vehicles and drivers. Following the high number of fatal road accidents since the beginning of the year, the Minister announced important measures regarding two-wheelers. “There are 200,000 motorcycles on our roads who have no license as such and there is no regulations regarding them. As a first exercise, together with the NTA and the police, we will implement a certain number of parameters regarding these vehicles.” The Minister announced that new motorcyclists will be now divided into four categories. Namely less than 50cc, 50 cc to 125 cc, 125 cc to 300cc and 300cc and above. Those aged 15 years, will be allowed to apply for their license for a motorcycle of less than 50cc. After three years that is at the age of 18, the person will be allowed to drive a vehicle of 50 to 125 cc. At the age of 21, that person will be able to ride a motorcycle of 125 to 300cc. There is no age limit for the 300 cc and above. If a person who is aged 25 already and wishes to have a two wheeler license, he/she will be allowed to drive a two wheeler of 125cc to 300 cc,” he explained. Minister Bodha announced the creation of Motorcycle Riding School (Moto-Ecole). “There will be around six to seven or even more motorcycle riding schools in the country. This will be done on a regional basis. The road tests will be based on three elements: theoretical, practical and handling. Practical tests will be carried out on a 100m long by 6m wide road track. Drivers will have to undergo 15hr training.” The Minister announced that 40 instructors will be recruited by the Ministry and 10 police examiners will be trained. “There are 7,000 new motorcyclists on our roads every year. We have received a budget of Rs 5 million to train instructors and examiners in the coming four months. We will launch an expression of interest for those interested in becoming instructors for the motorcycle riding school,” he said. It will now be compulsory for a person to be trained before undertaking examinations to obtain a motorcycle license. In addition, technical and administrative regulations will be issued for two-wheelers. These vehicles will also be subject to controls namely five years for engines less or equal to 200cc and seven years for those over 200cc. The new measures will be enforced as from July. The Minister also announced that roads will now be designed to include two-wheelers and pedestrians. Further regulations will be introduced in the near future for motorcyclists. News on Sunday talked to people in the field to know the possible reasons behind road accidents, the road system efficiency and laws.

Discontinuation of the Penalty Points Management System (PPMS) Manoj Rajkumar trusts that the discontinuation of the PPMS by the Lepep government is not a good measure. “People adapted to the system and adopted new habits on the road. I trust that when the system has been discontinued people have gone back to their old bad habits. It certainly needed to be reviewed but it should not have been discontinued. It allowed people to change their behaviour.”

Reckless driving According to Raffick Bahadoor, President of the Taxi Proprietors’ Union, the principal reason behind road accidents is reckless driving. “We can implement thousands of measures but if drivers are not conscious and do not act in a responsible manner, the number of road accidents won’t go down.” Raj Mootoosamy from ‘Victim Support Mauritius’ says that the Mauritian set-up and mentality does not cultivate empathy. “People do not think about the value of other people’s lives. They have become selfish by thinking only about themselves, their families and also that accidents can only happen to others and not to them.” Manjo Rajkumar, President of the ‘Association of Driving Schools’, says that “to drive is to know how to behave.” He believes that people should respect the road space and be attentive to risks. “Accidents are caused when one of those three elements have not functioned well namely Infrastructure, Vehicle and Drivers (Human). Vehicles account for 5-10 % of causes of accidents, infrastructure constitute 15% while the human factor is to be blamed nine out of ten times. Accidents are caused by carelessness.” Alain Jeannot, founder the NGO ‘Prevention Routiere Avant Tout’ also believes that one of the main causes of the accident is the fact that people are selfish on the road. “People believe that they have remote chances of being involved in a road accident. There is definitely serious indiscipline on our roads. The police hands out a ticket every two minutes and every twenty minutes, there is an accident.”

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8026","attributes":{"class":"media-image size-medium wp-image-14053 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"300","height":"200","alt":"IMG_9890"}}]]Too many motorized two-wheelers on the road The number of motorcycles on our roads has increased substantially. “We have 20% more two-wheelers on the road than before,” he says. According to Statistics Mauritius, 40% of the island's vehicle fleet comprises of two-wheelers (187,851).” High number of motorcycles equates to a higher rate of road fatalities, says Mr Jeannot. “For example in Malaysia, where two-wheelers represent 55% of the fleet, you must count 25 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.”

Need for new and updated laws and system Raffick Bahadoor believes that “we cannot continue to use archaic laws which have been in force since 1970.” According to him, road tests should be upgraded. “Driving tests are still the same with the basic examinations. I believe that the sign ‘LP’ (Provisional License) should feature on the car of new drivers for at least one or two years. For Raj Mootoosamy, the law is not sufficiently dissuasive. “In addition, I trust that there is not enough sensitisation and prevention campaigns not only at the civil society level but within the Mauritian family cell.” He definitely believes that laws should be more severe and that victims’ family should get justice. He adds that the law should sanction youngsters who speed with their tuned motor vehicles.

Sensitise pedestrians and Senior Citizens Raj Mootoosamy believes that pedestrians should be sensitised as they also have their part to play when they are on the road. “We must change their mentality. Pedestrians must know how to behave when they are on the road.” Alain Jeannot trusts that one of the immediate solutions to curb road accidents is education. “There must be a moral education at home. There is a more convincing way to make people learn and understand.Instead of simply telling people you must not drink and drive, you can tell them that the impact of an accident is like jumping for an eight storey building. Sensitising youngsters is also very important as they are on the road often. For example, teachers should tell their students to be careful on the road, to look both ways twice before crossing the road. Prevention is better than cure,” he explains. Senior citizens are over represented in road fatalities. “6 out of 10 road fatalities are aged over 60 years. Senior citizens should be more responsible and pay more attention when on the road. Drivers and other road users should also be patient with seniors as we have an ageing population.”

Hit and run and drink driving should be sanctioned The President of the Taxi Proprietors’ Union trusts that those who drink drive and are involved in fatal road accidents and those who are involved in Hit and Run cases should have their licenses permanently revoked. “I trust that the government should come with a measure to either suspend the licenses for at least ten to fifteen years or simply revoke it. This should be done as those who drink, deliberately chose to drive. I also believe that if the government wants to reduce the number of accidents on the roads, it should ban the sale of alcohol,” he says. Raj Mootoosamy is of the same opinion. “The license of those who drink and drive or those who are involved in Hit and Run cases should be revoked. In addition, they should be condemned just like those who commit murder. It is time to send a strong signal to society by severely punishing the culprits of those kinds of accidents,” he utters. Manoj Rajkumar says that the drunken drivers and the hit and run culprits should be severely punished. “Laws should be enforced and those people should be punished as an example to others.” But what drives people to run away after they have been involved in an accident? “Psychological studies have shown that people are often afraid of the sentence they may endure. They also run away if they were driving under the influence of alcohol.” Alain Jeannot explains that many people who are involved in an accident often run away by fear of being beaten by the public. “Regarding laws I trust that it is the jurists who have to decide on which laws should be enforced because there is different degree of offences. There are 200 cases of Hit and Runs. I believe that license should be suspended in certain cases and fines should be high.”

S[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8027","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-14054 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"196","height":"196","alt":"speed-cameras-mauritius"}}]]ecurity cameras Alain Jeannot argues that there are not enough cameras on the roads in many parts of the island and most importantly, in vulnerable and accident prone areas. “There should be security cameras at every 1 km interval. The cameras are a good means to enquire on cases such as Hit and Run.”

Adapted Infrastructure According to Alain Jeannot, the authorities must determine if the infrastructures are adapted to the nature of the vehicle fleet. “We cannot keep the same infrastructures that have been in place for over twenty years. In certain places, road marks have faded out, traffic signs have been damaged and there are even no pedestrian crossings near some schools. There is the need for a special unit to take care of those matters and adapt the road infrastructure in relation to the reality.

Encourage the use of Public Transport Alain Jeannot trusts that people in Mauritius are not willing enough to use public transport. “I trust that if the public transports are more secured and comfortable this will encourage people to use the public transport. 60,000 vehicles enter Port Louis everyday. There will definitely be less accidents if there were less vehicles on the roads and there are many economic advantages.”