Economic impact of road accidents: Part 3
Drunkenness is also another leading cause of accidents here. According to the World Health Organisation, about one third of Batswana over the age of 15 years drink alcohol. But are the police doing enough to curb this ever- growing problem? I do not think so. All too rarely one sees their special vans equipped with breathalyser equipment parked along the road. And I have never been tested for alcohol intake. Now you do not need a degree in rocket science to realise that Fridays and Saturday nights are prime times for boozing. For this reason, breathalyser vans could be parked out of sight a few hundred metres from well- known watering holes at these times.
At present, motorists may be penalised only when their blood alcohol content exceeds 50mg per 100ml of blood. Or in a breathalyzer test, if more than 0.22mg of alcohol per 1 000ml of breath is recorded. However, the alcohol limit may be lower for drivers of public service vehicles such as taxis, combis and buses. That’s because such vehicles may carry a large number of passengers. But some experts believe that the limit is too high. People react in different ways to drinking the hard stuff. Some people may become intoxicated after taking only a little alcohol, even one beer or glass of wine. And the consumption of booze takes centre stage during holiday times when the chances of an alcohol related accident may increase given the fact that many motorists may travel long distances at such times to reach their destinations.
Too much booze reduces the alertness of a motorist on the road. This means that a driver takes longer to react to hazards and dangers on the road. And reaction times will be longer at night after the bars have closed. But the effect of booze on the body may be reduced if one drinks on a full stomach. But even that is no excuse for agreeing with your booze buddies to ‘ take one for the road.’ Don’t drink and drive! If you have a drink, especially at night, then call a taxi to take you home; a special may set you back some P50, but it may be money well spent. Or find a friend to drive you home. But first check that he or she has not already knocked back a few beers!
Recently, the Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare, has come out in support of the sale of alcohol at football matches. This may not be a good idea since it would be difficult to check how much booze fans are drinking in the stadium. Some may become intoxicated during a match. This, together with the excitement generated during the game, might lead to accidents once fans get behind the wheel.
Most driving schools emphasise the need for ‘ defensive driving’ – not to take unnecessary risks and to respect other road users. Too many drivers want to be thought as being ‘ macho’ [ showing aggressive pride in being a male] on the road and this happens especially at holiday times. On the day before a public holiday, roads in Gaborone may be congested with lines of vehicles kilometres long. People feel that they have been couped up for too long in the city and so want to make a quick getaway. Being impatient, once out of the city they overspeed, and clock up speeds in excess of 140 kph, well above the 120 kph limit since they fear arriving late at their destination. But it’s always better to slow down, take your time, and arrive in one piece at your destination, rather than being late. Reckless overtaking is another cause of accidents on the road, especially if vehicles are overspeeding. The consequences are so often fatal. Along the A1 road, between Rasesa and Mahalapye, there are two places where road signs warn motorists that they are about to drive on stretches of road where many accidents have occurred. A few weeks ago, I was nearly involved in three serious accidents there in the same journey! On two of these occasions, a fast- moving vehicle was overtaking an oncoming vehicle and so I had to swerve off the road to avoid a catastrophic head- on collision. On the other occasion, a bus came from behind and tried to overtake me whilst another vehicle was coming from the other direction. The bus missed me by a few centimetres, and had I been driving further away from the edge of the road I would most likely have been pushed off the road. Perhaps in such areas, the speed limit could be reduced to 80 kph and police from Dibete could set up regular speed traps. The combination of overtaking and overspeeding can be so deadly!
Drivers should always be aware that a longer distance is required in overtaking large trucks. Sometimes, trucks belonging to the same company travel in convoy along our roads. But all too often, they are too closely spaced which means that a driver of a car cannot pass one vehicle at a time. This means that the driver will have to pass all the trucks in one go thus increasing the risk of a catastrophic head on collision with an oncoming vehicle.
Traffic lights may be seen by many motorists as no more than colourful lights adding a splash of colour to the drab landscape and to be ignored. Many simply continue to drive through red robots not thinking that other vehicles may have right of way at the time. I once visited Makopane in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Here in the town centre I drove through a red robot and a few hundred metres further on I was stopped by a police officer and fined R300. Another police officer, unseen by myself, had spotted me disregarding the robot and had immediately radioed his colleague beyond the robots to intercept me. Maybe our traffic police could also do the same?
Road markings could also be ignored by some drivers who may see them as nothing more than decorations on the road surface. Continuous white lines in the middle of the road tell motorists not to overtake; this may be because of a bend in the road or one is approaching the brow, or top, of a hill and so oncoming vehicles cannot be seen. But too often I have been overtaken in such places. In Tonota, the road leading into the village makes a series of bends and here the road is marked with such lines. This would be an ideal spot for the local police to catch motorists overtaking. But not once have I seen the boys in blue checking on such offenders here. On the rare occasions that police do set up road blocks here, they were only interested in checking vehicle and driving licences. And once they charged my wife P200 for a very trivial traffic offence – the light illuminating the rear vehicle number plate was not working. On the other hand, overtaking a vehicle on a continuous white line is dangerous and offenders would be seen as ‘ driving without due care and attention’ and could be fined P1 000. Not only would there be a decrease in such accidents, but also the fines would do wonders in topping up our police service’s coffers!
Yellow parallel lines on the road are also often ignored by motorists. Such lines often occur immediately before a right hand turn. Vehicles should not drive over such lines since this would prevent motorists from making a right turn. But once again, let us make these lines clearer; all too often they appear faded or cannot be seen at all. Government may save money by reducing the frequency at which such lines are painted. But this is a false economy – lives are at stake!
Although fines may deter some motorists from reckless driving on our roads, such punitive measures alone may not be enough. After all, a traffic fine may be no more than a day’s pay for some offenders. In cases where a motorist has been fined several times for traffic infringements, or has committed a serious offence such as causing injury or death, then his or her driving licence should be revoked, or deemed invalid. So, a motorist might be banned from driving for a few years, or even for life.