Accidents claim 650 lives daily on African roads -UN

-Expert advocates better road legislation to reduce accidents on African roads.

-He also urged more government efforts in providing safer roads and protecting all categories of road users.

UN Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt claims not less than 650 people in Africa loose their lives to road accidents on a daily basis.

He disclosed this on Monday at the 2017 Africa Road Safety Conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

Mr. Todt said road accidents in Africa were among the deadliest worldwide, urging more action.

The top UN official called for more to be done to keep drivers as well as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, safe.

“There is projected increase in urbanisation, motorisation, infrastructure development projects and vehicle ownership in the region over the coming decades.

“Road traffic fatalities and injuries will continue to take a rising toll on countries, if no significant changes are made,” he warned.

Todt recommended focus on road safety governance, enforcement of stronger legislation, and safer roads as ways of combating the trend.

The UN envoy also identified basic laws such as using seat belts and helmets, child safety seats, and prohibiting drunk drivers which must be enforced to guarantee safer roads.

“As much as strong legislation is important, a national vision and leadership are essential to lasting improvements in road safety.”

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According to him, the third area which could lead to reduced road traffic fatalities is to place more resources in collecting data, and development of strategies, monitor needs and assess impact.

“At the very basic level – within how many days after a crash can a death be classified as a road traffic fatality?

“Can we as a global community come to an agreement on data issues like these? Todt quarried.
He added that reliable data was urgently needed to achieve the Decade of Action for Road Safety, which runs through 2019.

“The continent suffers from the highest road traffic fatality rate than any other region, despite having less than five per cent of the world’s registered vehicles.”