Growing concern over traffic accidents

Road traffic accidents are claiming on average four lives a day in Angola's crowded cities, potentially posing one of the greatest threats to life in peacetime. "We don't have good enough information to be sure, but people say that after the war, the main cause of deaths in Angola is traffic accidents," said Superintendent Imocento de Brito, deputy national director of the police's transport and traffic department at a road safety workshop organised by the police and the Interior Ministry, and supported by British oil company, BP. The gathering on Thursday noted the severe consequences of bad driving and poor road awareness and discussed ways of reducing these problems. "Traffic safety in our county is almost non-existent," said Superintendent Bernado Caluyombo, head of the department of road safety and road accident prevention. "In 2003, we registered 1,597 deaths across the country, the results of 9,920 traffic accidents, giving a daily average of four deaths. Injuries totalled 7,398," he said. That average was maintained in the first half of this year, with 4,493 accidents claiming 752 lives. Nearly half the incidents occurred in the capital, Luanda, where almost constant traffic jams, combined with poorly repaired roads and inadequate pavements, make both driving and walking hazardous. The severity of the issue received a timely reminder on Wednesday when 19 people were killed and four injured in a collision between a packed taxi and another vehicle in Barra do Kwanza, south of the capital. Participants said the aim of the workshop was to raise awareness of the issue, which often got lost amid Angola's many other problems. "The situation is not out of control, but it needs to be improved substantially, with solid investment in road traffic accident prevention," Caluyombo urged. The police and Interior Ministry are in the midst of implementing a plan of action that includes slots on local television and a leaflet campaign designed to educate motorists. Human error and basic bad driving, rather than insecure vehicles or bad roads, were the chief culprit, speakers said. They reeled off a list of driver faults, including excessive speed, reckless overtaking, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, lack of respect for the rules of the road, excessive emotion and a 'super-hero' style of driving. Another key issue was the lack of road traffic awareness, particularly among children, who often ran into the road during games. BP, in partnership with the police, has been going into schools to discuss road safety, and is encouraging the government to put the issue on the general curriculum. The World Health Organisation estimates that almost 1.2 million people are killed every year in traffic accidents around the world, mainly in developing countries. Another 20 to 50 million are seriously injured each year, often resulting in disability.