Road Accidents are Third Main Cause of Deaths in Zambia: Deputy Minister

Road accidents are the third most common cause of deaths in Mozambique after HIV/AIDS and malaria, Deputy Communication and Transport Minister Mubika Mubika said Friday during a stakeholders meeting.

Mubika said it was alarming to note that road traffic accidents in the country still ranked third and was one of the leading causes of death for persons aged between five and twenty five years.

He said since road accidents were responsible for the deaths of some of the youngest people in the country, there is urgent need to put in place measures to end or reduce them.

Speeding has been listed as one of the major causes of fatal road traffic accidents, while others are defective motor vehicles and drunken drivers.

The minister said road accidents still contributed to the third highest causes of deaths for the year 2007 and the rate was expected to remain the same in 2008 unless strict measures were put in place.

One of the measures the government recently instituted included making it mandatory for public vehicles such as long distance buses to install speed limiters on the vehicles.

Others include a ban for buses and other public vehicles to travel over long distances after dark.

Source African Press Agency

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