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Following the national road safety awareness campaign launched by the Ministry of Transport (MoT), the number of deaths caused by road accidents in Ethiopia is reported to have dropped by 10.09 percent, although the overall problem still lies. at a crisis level, The reporter learned.
In the 2019-2020 budget year, 4,133 people died from road transport accidents. This has shown a slight improvement compared to the previous year. More than 12,000 people suffered serious and minor physical injuries.
The Ministry of Transport organized this Wednesday at the Hotel Eliana a consultative meeting with journalists on the role of the media in the fight against traffic accidents.
Yohannes Lemma, Director of Road Safety Education and Awareness, revealed that the media plays a crucial role in raising public awareness of road safety issues. Although there have been some improvements in recent years, the traffic accident is claiming a large number of lives. More than 34 deaths are reported for every 10,000 vehicles, which places Ethiopia among the countries with the worst accident rate. Every day 11 people die in car accidents in the country.
Yohannes said that the problem of traffic accidents has reached a crisis level. “All families are affected. It is creating social, psychological and economic problems, ”he said.
With just 1.2 million vehicles, Ethiopia is having one of the worst accident rates in the world. More than 68 percent of accidents are due to driver error.
The Ministry of Transport has launched a national road safety campaign aimed at reducing the number of traffic accidents.
Yohannes said the Ministry of Transport is working closely on developing an educational curriculum on road safety. He called on media professionals to continue advocating for road safety. Journalists who participated in the workshop stated that the Ministry of Transport, the Road Fund and other stakeholders should collaborate with the media to raise awareness among the public. Journalists emphasized the need to provide relevant and timely information to the media. “Communications departments are supposed to provide information to the media and are supposed to collaborate with media professionals to raise awareness of the hot topic,” they said. Journalists blamed some government offices for not actively engaging with the media in social campaigns.
State Transport Minister Mulu Gebeigzabher said the ministry is now committed to reducing traffic accidents more than ever. “We have launched a strong public awareness campaign. No one should die on the way. With the gaze of the minister, we are all dedicated to working hard to raise awareness and ensure road safety, ”said Mulu.
He said his ministry has been working with the Ministry of Education on road safety education. According to her, road safety will be incorporated into the country’s educational curriculum starting in 2021.
This week, the ministry donated speed control radars to regional states.
