Principal road transport officer responsible for safety, Charles Maluwa
* It is always disheartening to note that the country continues to lose a lot of lives and property because of the culture of ‘carelessness’
* It is high time that we embraced a culture that could help people prevent accidents so that we save lives and property
By Memory Kutengule Chatonda, MANA
The Directorate of Road Traffic & Safety Services (DRTSS) has advised Malawians to be road safety-cautious, observing that 98% of accidents happening in the country could be prevented.
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The Directorate’s principal road transport officer responsible for safety, Charles Maluwa, said this in Blantyre today when establishing the District Road Safety Committee.
He added it is always disheartening to note that the country continues to lose a lot of lives and property because of the culture of ‘carelessness’: “We should know that 95%-98% of road accidents are preventable — so it is high time that we embraced a culture that could help people prevent accidents so that we save lives and property.”
In the meantime, the DRTSS is setting up district-based road safety committees across the country to promote road safety through effective coordination and implementation of road safety initiatives to reduce fatalities and injuries at the district level.
Blantyre District road traffic committee
Maluwa said that so far, the DRTSS has set up committees in 12 districts which will act as a steering committee for the delivery of the National Road Safety Strategy 2022-2030, which, among other result areas, seeks to capacitate institutions to mitigate accidents in the best way they can.
Maluwa, therefore, advised committee members for Blantyre to identify and address district road safety concerns by conducting regular meetings and site visits.
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Director of Administration for Blantyre District Council, Redgson Mkolombwe applauded DRTSS for the initiative, saying they will collaborate with various stakeholders on road safety best practices.
The committee will be chaired by the District Commissioner and will have members from various departments, such as health, education, police, public works, civil society organisations, local elected leaders and traditional leaders.
In the past month there had been some horrible road accidents that shocked the nation, with three of them happening in Kasungu on the M1 Road.
An accident in Zomba last week
The first was so horrific accident as it claimed lives of 26 people among them two children, who got burnt to death when a high-roof minibus registration number MZ 11670 going towards Lilongwe hit and killed a pedal cyclist before ramming into a Tanzanian fuel tanker coming the opposite direction at Katondo Village near Santhe Trading Centre.
Kasungu Police reported that after the collision with the tanker, the minibus went up in flames killing everyone on board.
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In the second accident, the minibus with registration number of MZ10677 was being driven from Lilongwe to Jenda that had 16 people on board and upon reaching Thondolo near Lusa River along the M18 Road, the rear tyre exploded forcing the minibus to overturn.
The five people died on the spot while six others sustained varying injuries and were admitted to Kasungu District Hospital with five others were treated as out-patients.
The third claimed lives of two people on the accident spot involving a Toyota Sienta that overturned near Chilanga, about 10km south of Kasungu Boma
Meanwhile, three people died along Zomba-Domasi Road at Naming’azi when the vehicle they were travelling in — a Nissan Otti, registration number BZ3010 heading to Songani — crashed with a van registration number NN 11432 traveling into Zomba City.—Editing by Maravi Express
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