kill 1,591 people in 2015

A total of 2,511 road accidents were recorded in Mozambique in 2015, resulting in 1,591 deaths with a further 1,792 serious and 2,387 minor injuries.According to the National Land Transport Institute (INATTER), these accidents caused serious material damage in 1,397 cases and minor damage in 845 cases.The southern province of Maputo suffered the most traffic accidents with 623 incidents resulting in 198 deaths, 378 serious injuries and an equal number of light injuries.The city of Maputo has 586 accidents with 96 deaths, 416 serious injuries, and 555 minor injuries.The northern province of Nampula had the most deaths, with 285 mortalities from traffic accidents. A further 224 people died in the central province of Sofala.According to INATTER, the main causes of road accidents were careless driving, drunk driving, fatigue, the unbridled quest for passengers by the drivers of minibus taxis known as “chapas”, the poor condition of roads, and careless pedestrians.A source in INATTER pointed out that “Mozambique has registered over recent years an exponential increase in the number of vehicles”. However, he lamented that “drivers park on the pavements, blocking the way of pedestrians. Meanwhile, vehicles are being driven at high speed in these built-up areas”.He added that there is insufficient signage around villages, where most schools and shops are located along the main road. Therefore, whilst most accidents happen in the towns and cities, the worst casualties are along village and rural roads where drivers at moving at much higher speeds.The authorities recognise that the fight against accidents cannot be exclusively waged by public entities and requires the involvement of civil society and the private sector. Thus, INATTER is coordinating the actions of stakeholders to promote the safe movement of people and goods.Among the road safety work being carried out by various organisations are education and awareness campaigns, building car parks, constructing bus terminals, and promoting limits to the number of hours that people drive.