Professional Documents
Culture Documents
IN AFRICA
A PRESENTATION BY
(WHO, 2009)
CURRENT SITUATION REPORT
Road traffic injuries rank ninth among the leading
cause of deaths for children aged 1 to 4 year.
14,650 people are killed on south Africa roads
each year(40people/day), 620,000 crashes per
year (1698/day), 38,000 serious injuries per
year(104/day), 84,000 less serious injuries
(230/day). A person is killed every 48 minutes
and an accident occurs every 4 seconds. Last
year, for example, over 15,000 people died on
South Africa’s roads
CURRENT SITUATION REPORT
Head of Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety
Commission listed some of the causes of road
accidents in Nigeria including; indiscipline and
ignorance, excessive speed, drunk-driving, lack
of infrastructure for pedestrians, non use of seat
belts and helmets to reduce accidents in the
country. He informed the conference of the
Commission’s targets, reduce to 40% road
accidents, and a 50% death or seriously injured
persons by 2010(Africa Road Safety Conference,
2007).
CURRENT SITUATION REPORT
In Ghana 45 percent of those killed in road
accidents are pedestrians, 70 percent are
males, 25% of all road fatalities are under
16, 60 per cent are between 18-55yrs, and 65
per cent of road accidents occur in rural
areas. Women become widows and single
parents prematurely. Children are unable to
go to school, and become destitute. In the
mid 1990s, cyclists accounted for over 50
fatalities and 400 casualties every year.
CURRENT SITUATION REPORT
In general, pedestrians and cyclists are four
times more likely to be affected by RTAs
than motorized vehicles. And yet despite the
high incidences of RTAs for cyclists, the
overwhelming majority of cyclists have
neither received training nor wear protective
equipment whilst riding, thereby
endangering themselves on two counts. As
such, they pose a danger not only to
themselves but to other road users as well
CURRENT SITUATION REPORT
Statistically,Kenya’s crash and fatality
figures are high, with drivers, pedestrians,
and young persons recording large
numbers of deaths. Though numbers of
crashes are decreasing, the severity of the
crashes is increasing. Causes of crashes
appear to be similar to those in other
countries, with the human factor being the
highest
WHAT IS ROAD SAFETY?
Road Safety involves all measures taken
by all stakeholders (government,
motorists, pedestrians and other road
users) in ensuring accident-free roads that
would not pose any risk or harm to all
road users.
PROBLEMS OF ROAD SAFETY IN
NIGERIA
LACK OF ROAD SAFETY
EDUCATION
Drivers
Pedestrians
School Children
Other Road Users
The environment in which a child lives has
a significant impact on the type of transport
and traffic they are exposed to and this
needs to be taken into consideration when
designing an education plan for children.
Children in areas with lower income level,
are typically more exposed to traffic, as
they often start walking to school or using
public transport alone, at an earlier age.
Other external factors include the social
environments in lower income areas with
social problems, the focus of the parent is
on other social problems and not
educating their children about traffic
safety.
PROBLEMS OF ROAD SAFETY IN
AFRICA
LACK OF ROAD SAFETY LAWS/
IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES
BAD ROADS
MOST VEHICLES ARE NOT ROAD
WORTHY
INEXPERIENCED DRIVERS
ILL-EQUIPPED WORK FORCE
PROBLEMS OF ROAD SAFETY IN
AFRICA
RECKLESS/ DRUNKEN DRIVING
IMPROPER ISSUANCE OF DRIVERS’
LICENSE
IMPROPER CONSTUCTION OF
ROADS TO ACCOMMODATE ALL
ROAD USERS SUCH AS CHILDREN,
CYCLISTS,ETC
WHY CHILD ROAD SAFETY?
Children behave differently from adults in
traffic. Children have physical and mental
characteristics that limit their ability to handle
complex traffic situations.
They have limited attention span and cannot
concentrate on a task longer than a period of
time.
Up to the age of 7, their senses are not fully
developed and they do not have the same visual
and hearing abilities as adults.
WHY CHILD ROAD SAFETY?
Their observations are guided strongly by
fantasies and emotions. They cannot
distinguish between their “inner” world
(their thoughts) and the external or real
world.
They have a limited sense of danger
They imitate the often bad behaviour of
others, especially older children.
Older children and adolescents may
actively indulge in risk taking behaviours
that are exacerbated by peer pressure.
WHY CHILD ROAD SAFETY?
Older children and adolescents may
actively indulge in risk taking behaviours
that are exacerbated by peer pressure.