Economic impact of road accidents: Part 2

This week, we will continue our discussion on road accidents in Botswana. A level crossing is a place where a road crosses a railway line. These are also potentially dangerous places and a small vehicle crossing the tracks at the wrong time is no match for a rapidly oncoming heavy diesel locomotive. The inevitable will then happen – the vehicle will be reduced to a heap of mangled metal while the loco will remain unscathed and will be able to continue its journey as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

I once worked as a teacher in Jamaica. During a half term break, I took the opportunity of travelling by train from Kingston, the capital, to Montego Bay, a leading tourist resort on the north coast of the island. Some ten kilometres short of Montego Bay the train was travelling along a straight stretch of track. Then, all of a sudden, we heard a large bang and the train shuddered and finally came to an abrupt halt. Apparently, the train had slammed into a pick- up truck as it was crossing the tracks. Clearly, a case of the driver trying to beat the train! During the collision, the truck burst into flames and the two people in the front cab were killed instantly. The two people at the back of the truck were thrown into the air and landed some metres away with tragic results. One year earlier, I had attended a First Aid course and the time had now come to put that knowledge into practice. One of the injured was choking to death since his airway was blocked with blood. I was able to remove the blood and clear his airways with my shirt and then placed him in the recovery position where he could breathe more normally. He survived. But the other person was quiet and I gave her mouth to mouth resuscitation.

After doing this for some minutes, I realised that one of her lungs was not inflating and deflating as normal. I then knew that she was seriously injured and that one of her lungs had been punctured. She later passed away in front of me in the operating theatre in Montego Bay hospital. So, the message is clear – always look both ways before crossing the tracks! Ideally, motorists are warned well in advance that they are approaching a level crossing.

They will first see a large triangular road sign showing a train, and below this a board showing four red diagonal lines. Similar signs nearer the crossing will show three and then two lines, and finally, one line. But many level crossings seem not to be marked in this way. At some crossings, the approach of a train is often marked by flashing red lights. However, in many cases, the lights may not be working properly – either the lights do not flash at all, or they flash continuously for sometimes days on end even when no trains are approaching. Given this scenario, some local drivers, thinking that no trains are approaching, may simply cross the tracks without looking. And the consequences may be tragic. At other crossings, when a train is approaching a metal barrier should fall into a horizontal position thus blocking the movement of vehicles. However, too often they are out of order. And outside towns there may be no warning of a level crossing, especially when a minor road or track is crossing a railway.

Government is now planning to convert the entire A1 road from Ramatlabama - Ramokgwebana, into a full dual carriageway. They hope that this will reduce accidents along this road. But such roads may encourage drivers to overspeed. At one time, the dual carriageway between Tonota and Francistown was nicknamed the ‘ road of death.’ And only recently several people lost their lives near the bridge that crosses the Shashe river as one enters Tonota.