Road accidents kill over 1 100—Road Traffic report

At least 1 122 people were killed in road accidents last year, an increase by eight percent from 2015, a Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services (DRTSS) report has revealed.

According to the report, the deaths occurred from 5 406 road accidents, of which 962 were fatal, 565 instigated serious injuries while 1 941 triggered minor casualties and 1 921 accidents led to property damage.

Although the number of deaths increased, the report indicates that there was a major decrease in the number of fatal accidents by 34 percent, serious accidents by 20 percent and minor accidents by 25 percent.

Reads the report in part: “From January to December 2016, 1 122 people were killed, 812 seriously injured and 3, 098 sustained minor injuries.

This constitutes an increase by five percent on fatalities, 17 percent decrease in serious injuries and a notable decrease of 25 percent in minor injuries compared to the same period in 2015.”

According to the report, out of the total number of people who died, 919 were males while 203 were women. The figure comprises 557 pedestrians, 282 passengers, 179 bicyclists, 67 drivers, 36 motorcyclists and one animal driver.

The Central Region was the most affected as it registered 562 deaths in 477 fatal accidents followed by the Southern Region with 235 deaths in 206 fatal accidents. The Eastern Region recorded 174 deaths in 159 fatal accidents while the Northern Region registered 151 deaths in 120 fatal accidents.

On districts, Lilongwe registered the highest number of 181 deaths followed by Blantyre with 126, Ntcheu with 77 and Dowa with 70 while Chitipa registered the lowest cases of four deaths.

Asked to comment on the interventions the Malawi Police Service (MPS) will make this year to prevent accidents, its spokesperson James Kadadzera asked for more time to study the report, saying he had not yet seen it. n