Information from Rwanda National Police (RNP) shows that up to 19 lives were lost in accidents between February and January.

According to a statement from RNP, 89 road accidents were registered between January and February, 16 of which were caused by reckless taxi-moto operators.

"This resulted in 19 fatalities, including 10 taxi-moto operators, six passengers and three pedestrians,” read a statement from RNP.

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In a meeting that Inspector General of Police Felix Namuhoranye held with thousands of taxi-moto operators on Monday, March 25 in Kigali, he urged them on behaviour change during road use to avoid accidents.

"Exhibit the discipline and behaviour that puts safety first when using the road," he told them.

"You contribute a lot to community and national development. We know that when we call you to execute something of public interest, you heed positively. In the same way, we expect to see change in your transport operations in respect to traffic rules and regulations,” he added.

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Among other things, he called upon them to respect Zebra Crossings and other pedestrian crosswalks, avoid wrong and dangerous overtaking, use of phones while riding, speeding and so on.

Meanwhile, during the same meeting, the Mayor of Kigali, Samuel Dusengiyumva, appreciated taxi-moto operators for their contribution to national development and particularly in keeping Kigali clean, green and safe.

"Your contribution in the transport sector is very paramount, your role to have our city clean, green and secure is appreciated; we urge you to maintain that because it makes our roads safe as well," he noted.

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A December 2023 World Health Organisation (WHO) global status report on road safety showed improvement in Rwanda’s road safety data as it estimated a decrease of road accidents from 15/100,000 to 12/100,000 annually.

In an effort to prevent road accidents, the government has installed speed cameras on all major roads, installed speed governors in passenger buses, created pedestrian path ways and cyclist’s routes on main roads and road safety campaigns (Gerayo Mahoro) and put in place tighter fines for offenders.

According to traffic police figures, between January 2020 and November 2022, a total of 21,459 road accidents were recorded. About 4,000 were recorded in 2020 and another 8,000 in 2021, while 8500 were recorded in 2022.

Most accidents resulted from speeding, dangerous maneuvers, holding onto moving trucks by cyclists, overloading, cyclists operating at night, riding when intoxicated, violating traffic lights and other traffic rules.