Economic impact of road accidents: Part 2
And such roads also attract livestock. This is because the wide central reservation may be well grassed over and also fences may occur well away from the road thus increasing the amount of food available to livestock. But in some places, there may be an argument for constructing a dual carriageway. For example, the road between Mogoditshane and Gabane is very busy, much more than our existing dual carriageways. And many commuters use this road and so it is very busy at rush hour times.
Roads also need to be fenced. Although the main A1 road is fenced, some other main roads are not. For example, the road from Francistown to Orapa is unfenced and, in places, drivers may think that they are driving through a never- ending series of cattle posts! Since cattle are real hazards, we need to get these roads fenced. To legally drive on our public roads, drivers need to have a driving licence. But perhaps the road tests need to be more stringent and demanding. For example, a UK driving test involves an emergency stop. The examiner would take you to a quiet residential area. He would then instruct you to drive along a straight stretch of road and tell you ‘ when I strike the dashboard with my hand, stop!’ Such a test would test your reflexes and tell the examiner whether you can avoid hitting a small child who might suddenly dash out in front of you without warning! The length of the road test could also be increased.
Overspeeding is an issue of great concern on our roads. That’s no surprise since police officers have caught drivers driving at speeds of more than 200 kilometres per hour [ kph] in 80 kph zones! For this reason, police often set up speed traps to catch unsuspecting drivers. No problem; speed limits are there for a purpose! But there are some weaknesses in the present system. Firstly, locals will soon learn that speed traps are usually set up at the same place time after time. For example, in Tonota the police almost always set up a trap at the bus shelter nearest to the bridge over the Shashe river. They do this in order to catch people from Francistown who might be breaking the 60 kph limit here. However, with a good pair of eyes, or a pair of binoculars, a driver or his passengers may easily spot the speed trap in time since the road here is straight. And once you pass the speed trap you can exceed the limit with little fear of being caught. But perhaps the police could spring a surprise on drivers by setting up two speed traps at the same time with the second further down the road.
Secondly, speed traps should be set up more in areas where there is a real danger to life and property. In the case of Tonota, speed traps are generally located where there are few people and houses are situated well away from the road from which they are separated by fences, as along the A1 road. But during the 25 years that I have lived in Tonota, I have never once seen a speed trap along the road that passes through the village from the A1 to the post office. And yet here houses occur near the road and people are frequently walking along the edge of the road! Also the police may not always be consistent in their choice of speed limits. For example, in two villages of a similar size and where the risk to life and property are the same, the speed limit in one may be 60 kph but in the other 80 kph.
To further reduce overspeeding, speed bumps may be constructed across some of our roads, especially near schools and hospitals. This is fine if road signs warn drivers in good time that they are approaching one of these ‘ sleeping policemen.’ But all too often there may be no warning signs. Whilst some bumps are wide and low lying, others are particularly vicious being narrower and higher in height. And they may be bad news for some motorists who may not know the area and are travelling at night. Colliding with such an obstacle, even if you are driving below the speed limit, may result in high repair bills and the vehicle may also swerve to one side causing an accident with another vehicle. So, let’s make sure that warning signs are visible and placed some distance from the speed bump to give motorists enough time to slow down.