Aspects of road safety in Botswana

Abstract

The present paper analyses aspects of road safety in Botswana. In this country, the number of deaths from road accidents is relatively high compared with other African countries. The main causes of accidents are speeding and drunken driving and the increasing traffic congestion during rush hours in the urban areas. The paper describes the current situation and the road safety policy, and discusses the need to improve road safety in the country. It recommends emphasising road injury prevention, encouraging the use of public transport because it is safer, setting quantitative targets for reducing road traffic fatalities, and establishing a Road Traffic Council.

1. INTRODUCTION

Motor vehicles have undoubtedly added to the convenience of modern life. They make it possible for us to travel faster and further than our ancestors ever imagined. Motoring is now a way of life; unfortunately, it is also a way of death. (Sowetan, 2004)

According to the World Health Organization, 1.2 million people are killed on the roads every year and about 50 million more are injured (WHO, 2004). To emphasise the importance of road safety, the WHO chose ‘road safety’ as the theme for World Health Day on 7 April 2004 and launched the World Report on Road Traffic Injury and Prevention (WHO & World Bank, 2004).

Road safety is a major concern in Botswana. A police report cited in the national press shows that during the first half of 2004 there were 265 deaths from road accidents in this country (Matshediso, 2004:6). There were 247 during the same period in 2003. This is a major public health concern.

This paper examines aspects of road safety in Botswana. Section 2 deals with road safety policy and explains why there is need to improve road safety here (apart from, obviously, preventing injuries and saving lives). Section 3 describes the status of road safety in Botswana. It analyses the types and causes of road accidents in the country. Section 4 focuses on ways to improve road safety. Although public transport is safer than private transport here, people still prefer to own and use private transport. This section explains the underlying causes of this trend. The general theme of the paper is that improving road safety in Botswana requires a paradigm shift. Since human behaviour is affected by societal values and norms, changing the environment in which people operate should change the behaviour.

2. ROAD SAFETY POLICY IN BOTSWANA

The Road Traffic Act in Botswana, in its 1976 amendment, established the National Road Safety Committee, the District Road Safety Committees and the Road Safety Fund (Government of Botswana [GoB], undated, CAP 69:195). By the provisions of the Act, the National Road Safety Committee consists of the Chairman (the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications, or his representative), the Vice-Chairman (the Chief Roads Engineer, Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications), and nine other members: the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, or his representative; the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, or his representative; the Attorney-General's representative; the Commissioner of Police or his representative; a representative of the insurance companies offering third-party insurance in Botswana; a representative of the Road Safety Association of Botswana; a representative of the service clubs; a representative of the Chamber of Commerce; and the Transport Secretary, Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications.

The Act specified how the Nation Road Safety Committee is to promote road safety, aided by District Road Safety Committees. To meet the financial obligations of the National Committee, a special fund, the National Road Safety Fund, was established. The contributions to the Fund are mainly from a levy on motor vehicle registrations. In Botswana, the Roads Department and the Ministry of Local Government, Lands and Housing are responsible for public road construction and maintenance. The total road network in the country is 18 327 km (GoB, 1997:172). The Roads Department is responsible for the construction and maintenance of 8761 km of the total road network and the rest falls under urban and district councils of the Ministry of Local Government, Lands and Housing. However, it is the Department of National Transport and Communications that formulates national road and water transport policies, including road safety. It also issues transport permits and driving licenses, and registers vehicles and enforces road safety, for example by inspecting vehicles for road fitness.

In its development plans, Botswana has articulated the need for improved road safety in the country. During the implementation of the Ninth National Development Plan (NDP 9), which runs from April 2003 to September 2008, its objectives are to:

•	formulate a national road safety strategic plan that is holistic and effective in improving road safety;
•	implement better traffic law enforcement, road safety education, training and licensing;
•	reduce drunken driving by imposing more rigorous alcohol tests and enacting appropriate legislation;
•	establish a training institute for driving instructors and examiners;
•	build and equip vehicle testing stations in Kang, Kanye, Mahalapye, Maun, Mogoditshane and Selebi-Phikwe; and
•	introduce 6-monthly testing of public service vehicles and mandatory testing of all vehicles older than 3 years; as a requirement for renewal of vehicle licences.

Furthermore, Botswana has a long-term development plan that shows the extent to which the government is aware of the problems of road safety in Botswana. It is called Vision 2016, because in that year the country will celebrate 50 years of independence. One of Vision 2016's primary objectives is that Botswana should be a ‘safe and secure nation’:

The high incidence of deaths and serious injuries arising from the irresponsible use of vehicles, inadequate fencing or poor road marking will be substantially reduced by the year 2016. There will be a high standard of road safety, driving ability and road courtesy. (GoB, 1997:10)

The Botswana Government facilitates the development of infrastructure for improved road safety in the country, but the capacity to implement this is lacking (GoB, 2003). The service departments do not have the capacity to implement the targets that have been set for improving road safety. For example, during the Eighth National Development Plan (NDP 8), which ran from 1997/98 to 2002/03, five vehicle testing stations were planned but only two were built and equipped, at Lobatse and Palapye (GoB, 2003:142). Similarly, only four of the nine planned driver training and testing facilities were completed during NDP 8, at Lobatse, Mahalapye, Serowe and Palapye.

However, there is an urgent need to improve road safety in Botswana. Accidents are costly in terms of money required to repair the vehicles, and the opportunity cost of the time spent in making accident reports to the police, making insurance claims, and so on. Road accidents also cause fatalities, which have psychological, social and economic costs. There are time and monetary costs associated with funerals. When it involves the youth, premature death leaves potential unfulfilled. For the economically active, death deprives households of breadwinners. In the case of the elderly, death deprives society of men and women of wisdom and knowledge. Road accident fatalities devalue the sanctity of human life. For the survivors, fatal accidents leave painful memories. Survivors of fatal road accidents may be paralysed for life and thereby rendered unproductive and unwanted.

3. ROAD SAFETY STATUS IN BOTSWANA

Statistical indices enable us to make cross-country comparisons of the number of deaths from road accidents. One of these indices is the death rate per 100 million kilometres driven. According to this index, Egypt has a death rate of 43.2, Kenya 36, Korea 29, Turkey 22 and Morocco 21 (Sowetan, 2004:15). In comparison, the USA has a relatively low rate of 1.1. Another index for cross-country comparison of deaths from road accidents is deaths per 10 000 registered vehicles. (These deaths include pedestrian fatalities – motorists kill not just themselves but also innocent bystanders.) Using this index, African countries top the list. The Central African Republic heads the list with 300 deaths per 10 000 registered vehicles. Ethiopia and Malawi each have nearly 200, followed by Tanzania, Guinea and Botswana with over 100 (Sowetan, 2004:15). Clearly, deaths from road accidents are relatively high in Botswana.

Table 1 presents the annual road traffic accident trends in Botswana for the period 1981–1995. As can be seen, the number of accidents rose steadily from 1715 in 1981 to 9536 in 1995. The table shows that the number of casualties and the number of fatalities have also risen. In 1995 there were 34.5 fatalities per 10 000 vehicles, which is much lower than the 2004 figure of 100 per 10 000 registered vehicles quoted by Sowetan (2004:15). This indicates that the road traffic fatalities in Botswana have risen.

Table 1: Annual road traffic accident trends in Botswana

				Number of		Accidents		Casualties		Fatalities
Year	Number of accidents	Number of casualties	Number of fatalities	registered vehicles	Estimated population	Per 1000 vehicles	Per 10 000 population	Per 1000 vehicles	Per 10 000 population	Per 10 000 vehicles	Per 10 000 population
1981	1715	940	93	34 698	941 027	49.4	18.2	27.1	10.0	26.8	9.9
1982	2648	1614	130	38 451	975 628	68.9	27.1	42.0	16.5	33.8	13.3
1983	2205	1251	176	42 479	1 011 388	51.9	21.8	29.4	12.4	41.4	17.4
1984	3300	1799	168	47 192	1 048 245	69.9	31.5	38.1	17.2	35.6	15.5
1985	3521	2369	198	51 678	1 086 139	68.1	32.4	45.8	21.8	38.3	18.2
1986	4983	2448	182	55 604	1 125 008	89.6	44.3	44.0	21.8	32.7	16.2
1987	4515	2746	191	57 705	1 164 893	78.2	38.8	47.6	23.6	33.1	16.4
1988	5741	2923	262	64 301	1 205 834	89.3	47.6	45.5	24.2	40.7	21.7
1989	6299	4136	295	70 030	1 247 771	89.9	50.4	59.1	33.1	42.1	23.6
1990	7614	4845	314	80 953	1 290 642	94.1	59.0	59.8	37.5	38.8	24.3
1991	8381	4871	349	83 048	1 334 386	100.9	62.8	58.7	36.5	42.0	26.2
1992	9017	4909	368	90 405	1 378 993	99.7	65.4	54.3	35.6	40.7	26.7
1993	9169	5136	379	94 440	1 424 502	97.1	64.4	54.4	36.1	40.1	26.6
1994	9420	5171	352	108 043	1 494 840	87.2	63.0	47.9	34.6	32.6	23.5
1995	9536	5247	410	111 962	1 518 297	85.2	62.8	43.8	34.5	34.2	27.0
Source: GoB (1997:Table 8.9).

Table 2 presents the casualties by type of road user in Botswana for the period 2000–2004. The most common casualties are for pick-up users, followed by car users and pedestrians. In 2004, pick-up users accounted for 28.3 per cent of the casualties, car users 24.8 per cent and pedestrians 18.7 per cent. The table also shows that, in Botswana, public transport is the safest mode of transport. In 2004, for instance, bus and taxi users accounted for 1.4 per cent and 0.7 per cent of the accidents, respectively. These users were among those least involved in road accidents.

Table 2: Casualties by type of road user: 2000–2004

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	% (2004)
Pedestrian	1409	1443	1486	1355	1467	18.7
Cyclist	143	147	125	101	131	1.7
Motorcyclist	37	66	79	85	55	0.7
Car user	1761	1750	2004	2075	1943	24.8
Taxi user	72	64	63	69	53	0.7
Four-wheel drive user	635	713	679	650	766	9.8
Pick-up user	2401	2261	2392	2392	2221	28.3
Light-duty van user	108	153	110	98	101	1.3
Lorry user	288	378	302	463	301	3.8
Minibus user	694	620	549	458	584	7.4
Bus user	123	190	94	115	110	1.4
Other	112	121	86	91	84	1.1
Unknown	7	39	15	11	24	0.3
Total casualties	7790	7945	8014	7963	7840	100
Source: GoB (2006:Table 2).

President Festus Mogae of Botswana alluded to the impact of road accidents and the role that the insurance industry can play when he addressed participants at the 10th Anniversary of Botswana Life's Mompati Products. The Botswana Gazette quotes the President as saying:

Of particular relevance to the insurance industry, is the stark reality that our social network is threatened by an increasing strain caused by early deaths, which are mostly attributable to either AIDS or road accidents … We are also, for instance, now confronted with the sad irony that, at a time in which too many of our citizens are falling victims to early deaths, we also have the phenomenon of growing numbers of elderly who in the past would be looking to their children for at least a degree of support. (The Botswana Gazette, 2004:26)

President Mogae of course cited road accidents as a major cause of early deaths in Botswana. These are occurring at a time there is an increasing number of elderly people in Botswana. In the past, children were a form of insurance for old age. When children die young, the insurance scheme for the elderly is eroded. The President was therefore appealing to the insurance industry to fill the vacuum created by early deaths.

Most of those who die in road accidents in Botswana are under the age of 40 (Banda, 2004:18). This suggests that most accidents are caused by young and inexperienced drivers. Driving schools have been blamed for not training drivers well. However, some people absolve newly licensed drivers of the blame, asserting that such drivers are more cautious than the experienced ones (Odubeng, 2004). Since the newly licensed drivers lack confidence, they are careful and attentive when driving. On the other hand, experienced drivers may be impulsive and predisposed to speed.

Among the factors that cause road accidents are mechanical failure, bad weather, daydreaming, impatience, anger, frustration, stress and fatigue. However, the worst accidents are caused by ‘the deadly ingredients of booze and bravado’ (Sowetan, 2004:15). It has been observed that 30 per cent of the accidents in Botswana occur during weekends, and even more at month ends. The combination of speeding, drinking and driving has been cited as a major cause of road accidents in Botswana. In the country's NDP 9, the Botswana Government states the problem as follows:

The low level of traffic discipline on Botswana roads is of grave concern. Two major causes of accidents have been identified as speeding and drunken driving. The high rate of pedestrian involvement in road accident fatalities (30 per cent) is of even greater concern. (GoB, 2003:142)

The fact that the causes of accidents on Botswana's roads have been identified helps to identify solutions to the problem. However, some observers have questioned the use of the term ‘accident’. The so-called ‘accidents’ are often no accidents but the result of premeditated action. The WHO and World Bank (2004) use the term ‘crash’ instead of ‘accident’, arguing that an ‘accident’ is something that can be understood rationally, and managed, predicted and avoided. Loeto Mazhani, the superintendent for Nyangagbwe Referral Hospital in Botswana, also believes that road accidents are caused by premeditated actions (Banda, 2004). He made this observation on WHO Day, 27 May 2004:

What we often call accidents are not accidents, but deliberate actions … Those who drink alcohol do not do so by mistake. We have the desire to drink and spend a lot of our money on alcohol. After getting drunk we drive our cars at high speed and crash, resulting in serious injuries and death. Then we call it an accident. It is a wilful and deliberate action. (Banda, 2004:18)

Mazhani also noted that drivers disregard the speed limit, thereby causing fatalities. According to the police report cited above, during the first half of 2004 there were 2380 traffic cases in Botswana, of which 1168 were for motorists charged with speeding (Matshediso, 2004:6). Evidently, speeding is a serious problem in Botswana.

In Botswana, nose-to-tail and side collisions are the two most common types of road accidents (GoB, 2006:3). Table 3 shows that, in 2004, such collisions accounted, for 20.4 per cent and 28.7 per cent of the total accidents in the country. Not surprisingly, most of the accidents were in towns and urban villages, which have high traffic volumes.

Table 3: Types of road accident in Botswana, 2004

		Nose-to-tail and side	Pedestrian	Head-on collision	Animals	Obstacle	Rollover	Other	Total
Towns	n	2917	943	208	817	996	422	5080	11 383
	%	25.6	8.3	1.8	7.2	8.7	3.7	44.7	100
Urban villages	n	763	513	207	1484	603	757	2109	6436
	%	1.9	8.0	3.2	23.1	9.4	1.8	32.6	100
Rest of Botswana	n	21	11	8	92	39	54	92	317
	%	6.6	3.5	2.5	29.0	12.3	17.0	29.1	100
Total	n	3701	1467	425	2393	1638	1233	7281	18 136
	%	20.4	8.1	2.3	13.2	9.0	6.8	40.2	100
Source: GoB (2008:Table 1).

The number of motor vehicles in Botswana has increased significantly. Table 4 shows that cars and light duty vans are by far the most common new registrations of motor vehicles in Botswana. There are two possible reasons for this. One is the availability of credit to purchase private motor vehicles, and continued access to credit. The increased private ownership and use of motor vehicles is a result of the rapid economic growth in Botswana since the 1980s.

Table 4: New registrations of motor vehicles in Botswana (privately owned)

Year	Cars	LDVs^a	Lorries^b	Others^c	Total
1995	3793	3084	1149	1460	9486
1996	3704	2609	1135	1230	8678
1997	5078	3111	1274	1548	11 011
1998	7385	5562	922	2037	15 906
1999	7466	6124	981	2491	17 062
2000	6690	4973	781	2396	14 840
2001	5447	3878	672	1541	11 538
2002	9313	7006	1136	2587	20 042
^aLight duty vans up to 1.5 tonnes unladen weight.
^bLorries more than 1.5 tonnes unladen weight.
^cBuses, motorcycles, tractors, trailers, caravans, etc.
Source: GoB (2001b, 2004).

The other is the increasing traffic congestion. Witness, for instance, the long queues of commuters waiting to board minibuses and other vehicles during the rush hours in Botswana. Witness also the rise in the number of driving schools, ‘bush’ mechanics and panel beaters in Gaborone, the capital city. There are delays and traffic jams during peak hours because the volume of traffic has risen at a rate faster than roads can be expanded. Road construction cannot be cannot keep up with the increase in the number of road users. Table 4 shows that in 1995, new registrations of privately owned motor vehicles in Botswana were 9486. In 2002 the figure was twice as high, with 20 042 new registrations. In other words, in less than 10 years the new registrations doubled. This means there was an increase in demand for road space. It is essentially the imbalance between the supply and demand for road space that creates traffic congestion.

Traffic congestion makes public transport less efficient. Watson and Holland (1983) point out the adverse effect that congestion caused by the increased use of cars has on public transport services. This becomes a vicious circle. When there are frequent traffic jams, public transport becomes unreliable and those who can afford it opt to buy and drive their own cars. However, the switch from public to private transport only worsens the congestion because there are now more vehicles on the road. The worsened congestion further degrades the public transport system, forcing more and more people to opt for private cars, making congestion even more intolerable, and so on and so forth. Meanwhile, the worsening public transport systems mean financial losses for the operators. These losses, in turn, oblige the operators to increase fares or cut services, or both, and this accelerates the downward spiral of the public transport system.

4. IMPROVING ROAD SAFETY IN BOTSWANA

To improve road safety, there should be an emphasis on road injury prevention (WHO & World Bank, 2004). As is often said, prevention is better than cure. To prevent injuries on the roads in Botswana requires understanding the types of road accidents that occur, taking into account the factors discussed above: that the casualties most commonly involve pick-up users, car users and pedestrians; that public transport is the safest mode of transport; and that cars and light duty vans are by far the most common categories of new registrations of motor vehicles. In other words, although public transport is safer than private transport, people still prefer to own and use private transport. Road injury prevention requires an understanding of the underlying causes of this trend.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that improving road safety in Botswana requires a paradigm shift. Policy-makers should encourage the use of public transport because it is safer and offers economies of scale. A bus carrying 50 passengers obviously occupies less road space than 50 private cars driven by these 50 passengers. When they perceive these economies of scale, policy-makers can induce car owners to change their attitudes. In Botswana, the passenger transport system is essentially a regulated competition (GoB, 2003). It should be therefore be possible to have a system of incentives that encourage the use of public transport. More generally, efforts to improve road safety should induce a change in human behaviour. Public policy can influence the environment in which people operate and thereby alter their behaviour.

In Vision 2016, Botswana has adopted a long-term view of the problem of road safety. This is commendable. However, Vision 2016 does not have specific targets for reducing road traffic accidents and fatalities. Botswana must set these targets, and they must be ‘quantitative, time-dependent, easily intelligible and possible to evaluate’ (WHO & World Bank, 2004:22). Table 5 presents some target reductions set by various countries, when the targets were set and when they were to be realised. Botswana should adopt a similar approach.

Table 5: Examples of current fatality reduction targets in use worldwide

Country or area	Base year for target	Year in which target is to be reached	Target reduction in the number of road traffic fatalities
Australia	1997	2005	−10%
Austria	1998–2000	2010	−50%
Canada	1991–1996	2008–2010	−30%
Denmark	1998	2012	−40%
European Union	2000	2010	−50%
Finland	2000	2010	−37%
		2025	−75%
France	1997	2002	−50%
Greece	2000	2005	−20%
		2015	−40%
Ireland	1997	2002	−20%
Italy	1998–2000	2010	−40%
Malaysia	2001	2010	<3 deaths/10 000 vehicles
Netherlands	1998	2010	−30%
New Zealand	1999	2010	−42%
Poland	1997–1999	2010	−43%
Saudi Arabia	2000	2015	−30%
Sweden	1996	2007	−50%
United Kingdom	1994–1998	2010	−40%
United States	1996	2008	−20%
Source: WHO & World Bank (2004:Table 1.4).

Besides capacity constraints, some of the difficulties of implementing road safety plans in Botswana are ‘the delay in land allocation and inadequate funding’ (GoB, 2003:142). While this is so, some departments routinely report under-expenditures of budgeted funds. During the 1999/2000 fiscal year, for example, there were under-expenditures of 5 per cent of the recurrent budget and 10.8 per cent of the development budget (GoB, 2001a). The unspent allocations for the recurrent budget amounted to P388 million and those of the development budget were P418 million.1 Thus, the total under-expenditures in fiscal year 1999/2000 amounted to P984 million. This was during the period of NDP 8, when some of the planned road safety infrastructure, such as vehicle testing stations, was not built. It should also be noted that for 16 years prior to the 1998/99 fiscal year, Botswana had government budget surpluses. In 1998/99, the government recorded a budget deficit and this was followed by three consecutive deficits during the financial years of 2001/02, 2002/03 and 2003/04. In a period of over 20 years, Botswana had only four fiscal deficits.

This is remarkable by any standard. Therefore when inadequate funding is cited as a constraint to implementing plans in Botswana, it is a sign of lack of coordination between short-term, medium-term and long-term plans. The annual budget represents Botswana's short-term plan. It is the government's revenue and expenditure plan for the forthcoming financial year (Mupimpila, 1981). As a short-term plan, the budget should complement the medium-term development plans, such as NDP 8 and NDP 9. The expenditures stated in the annual budget should be based on the targets in the medium-term plans. In turn, the medium-term plans should be congruent with Vision 2016, Botswana's long-term plan. This approach could yield tangible benefits in road safety in Botswana. It is conceivable that the country's long-term goal of a ‘safe and secure’ nation will be attained through ‘effective enforcement of traffic law, road safety education, better training and licensing, elimination of drunken driving, etc.’ (GoB, 2003:139).

Improving road safety requires coordination among development plans. It also requires cooperation between service departments, and between governmental and non-governmental agencies. A holistic approach to road safety recognises the importance of partnerships in the delivery of safer road traffic systems.

5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Road safety is a major concern in Botswana because the country's rate of deaths from road accidents is relatively high. The main causes of accidents are speeding and drunken driving, and most casualties involve pick-ups, followed by car users and pedestrians. Public transport is the safest mode of transport here.

The Botswana Government has clearly defined policy for improving road safety in the country. The objectives include better traffic law enforcement, road safety education, training and licensing, and reducing drunken driving by imposing more rigorous alcohol tests. In the past, some of the plans for developing road safety infrastructure were not implemented because of capacity and resource constraints.

A basic point made in this paper is that improving road safety in Botswana requires a paradigm shift. It requires an emphasis on road injury prevention, encouraging the use of public transport because it is safer, and setting quantitative targets for reducing road traffic fatalities, with specified dates for reaching these targets. Furthermore, a holistic approach to road safety requires coordination between short-term, medium-term and long-term plans, and cooperation between governmental and non-governmental agencies. This paper recommends that the Department of National Transport and Communications establish a Botswana Road Safety Council, in place of the existing Road Safety Committee. The Council should be composed of representatives of the governmental and non-governmental agencies that now constitute the Road Safety Committee (see Section 2, above). The Road Safety Council should be self-funding through a levy on motor vehicle registration, insurance levies, and receipts from traffic offences. Since vehicle owners in Botswana are required by law to insure their vehicles, the insurance levy can be set as a percentage of third-party insurance. In Victoria, Australia, for example, the insurance levy was originally set at 3 per cent but later raised to 10 per cent (Transport Research Laboratory & Silcock, 2002:26).

The switch from Committee to Council should be not just nominal but within the scope and mandate of the Council. At present, Botswana's long-term plan, Vision 2016, is being implemented by the Vision 2016 Council. This Council is very active and prominent in Botswana. Similarly, the Road Safety Council should be expected to promote road safety much more effectively than the Committee. The Road Safety Council should deal with broader issues of road safety, such as road design. And since the third most common category of victims of casualties is pedestrians, the Road Safety Council should require road engineers to give equal thought to motorists and pedestrians.

Notes

1 At the time of writing, the exchange rate was US$1 = 6.78 Botswana pula (P).