The Senate has summoned the Prime Minister to explain measures being put in place to solve challenges identified in preventing and tackling road accidents, which have been on the rise.
This resolution was adopted during the Senate’s plenary session that was held on December 19.
According to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security, despite strategies that the Government put in place to curb accidents, they increased from 4,160 in 2020 to 8,639 in 2021, and 8,660 in 2022.
These accidents inflicted heavy losses on people, including 629 deaths in 2020, 655 deaths in 2021, and 687 deaths in 2022, the committee said.
"These people who died from accidents are many, as it is an average of about two Rwandan residents per day. This is an issue we should pay attention to so that we know the underlying factor, and how to prevent these accidents,” said Hadija Murangwa Ndangiza, Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security.
Senator Emmanuel Havugimana said that Rwanda is 15th globally out of 153 countries in terms of high traffic accident fatalities. Citing World Health Organization, out of 100,000 people, about 44 people die in the country because of accidents per year.
"We want to be at least among countries with less than 10 road accident deaths per 100,000 people,” he said, citing Switzerland that has one death per 100,000 people.
Meanwhile, Ndangiza said that the PM might appear himself, or delegate a Minister, if need be, to respond to senators’ queries.
On the anti-accidents strategies that the Government developed, senators said that they include traffic cameras that capture images of automobiles that exceed set or recommended speeds and impose due fines on the drivers.
Some of the reasons that were cited by the committee for causing road accidents include the nature of roads such as old ones that are in poor state, the use of automobiles that have not gone through mechanical inspection to establish whether they are fit for passenger or goods transport, and car garages that are often not inspected for standard compliance.
Concerning the nature of roads, the Committee said, Police indicated 298 spots with risks of causing accidents – described as black spots – which is the result of the country’s topograpy, and the issue of roads that were built long ago.
Also, there are factors of bad driver behaviours, including driving under the influence of alcohol, and those who drive yet they did not study traffic rules.
Apart from the loss of lives, accidents had a toll on the country’s workforce as some victims suffer severe injuries and disabilities; and the country’s economy, with insurers claiming that they were paying more money in compensations to damages inflicted on the victims – for the cases of motorcycle insurance.
For instance, on Monday, November 28, Marc Rugenera, the Managing Director of Radiant Insurance Company told members of the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security that the firm paid over Rwf2.9 billion in compensations to victims of motorcycle accidents in 2020, while it had collected over Rwf1 billion in motorcycle insurance premium.
This data suggests that the compensation expenditure was 247 per cent, or more than double, compared to the premiums.