3 studies into road traffic injury on rural roads in Tanzania
Official statistics from the Tanzania Traffic Police show that in 2012, there was a total of 3,969 deaths and 20,802 injuries on roads
Abstract
About 1.24 million people die on the world’s roads each year. Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s most dangerous roads, with the road traffic fatality rate standing at 24.1 per 100,000 people. Fifty percent of fatalities in Africa are of so-called ‘vulnerable road users’ – pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
Official statistics from the Tanzanian Traffic Police show that in 2012, there was a total of 3,969 deaths and 20,802 injuries on Tanzania’s roads. However, due to the lack of a comprehensive data collection system, it is possible that these numbers are considerably lower than the actual figures.
The Tanzanian government, with support from donor partners, is embarking on a major programme of improvements to low-volume rural roads, including through the second phase of the Local Government Transport Programme. Between 2012 and 2015, thousands of kilometres of rural roads will be upgraded from poor to fair standard, unblocking bottlenecks and providing year-round access. Through this programme, millions of people will have improved access to markets, schools and healthcare facilities, with the aim of improving lives and lifting people out of poverty. However, in improving rural roads, consideration must be given to the potential negative impact of increasing the risk of RTI.
This research begins to address this issue, with a focus on low-volume rural roads. It is divided into 3 separate studies:
- Study 1 aims to quantify the magnitude and describe the characteristics of RTI on rural roads
- Study 2 is ‘action research’ aiming to evaluate the impact of a rural road RTI prevention programme on RTI rates
- Study 3 aims to quantify the magnitude and describe the characteristics of RTI among motorcycle taxi (‘boda-boda’) drivers, a particularly high-risk population
Citation
Guerrero, A.; Bishop, T.; Deepani Jinadasa; Witte, J. 3 studies into road traffic injury on rural roads in Tanzania: 1. The magnitude and characteristics of road traffic injury among rural communities. 2. The impact of a rural road traffic injury prevention programme. 3. The magnitude and characteristics of road traffic injury among motorcycle taxi drivers. Final Report, v1.2. (2013) 150 pp.
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