Arusha hosts 2016 National Road Safety week citing 3 road accidents per day

 

THIS year National Road Safety week was marked in Arusha Region at Arusha City, where it was revealed that at least three motorcycle accidents occur on daily basis in the country, and mainly claim lives, it has been learnt.

Speaking during the climax of the function held at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium on Monday, the Regional Traffic Police Commander, Nuru Selemani said here that, there were 615 motorcycle accidents recorded in Arusha between January and October this year at the rate of three mishaps per day. 

 

Commenting on that, the Arusha District Commissioner, Mr Gabriel Daqarro revealed that plans are underway to start registering motorcycles and their riders in the urban precincts to ensure that all the operators can be traced, trained and hold driving licences.

“Because at the moment, anybody who can ride a motorcycle can become a bodaboda operator,” said Daqarro.

Overall, the number of road and motor accidents that have occurred in the region in the last ten months of 2016 has reached 1692.

 “Last year the total number of accidents clocked 2011 by December,and imagine this year two more months are still left before we close it, thus the 1692 figure can still increase,” he said.

The DC said that a total of 68 accidents claimed innocent lives in the road mishaps that occurred within the first ten months of this year, where a total of 1692 motor accidents got reported in the region, adding that the crashes resulted into injuries of 725 people.

He said that causes of road accidents are many, but cited the leading ones as a result of human errors accounting to 75 percent, poor road conditions taking 10 percent and the rest on faulty vehicles with 15 percent.

While 615 motorcycle accidents occurred this year, last year it recorded 763 accidents out of the total 2011ones that were reported.

In another development, motorists in Arusha have also reported to have been complaining of series of police stops along the region’s highways including the officers harassing them with questions which suggest bribes.