INATTER’s role is to regulate and supervise all activities carried out in the area of land transport (essentially road and rail transport).
According to the Director General of INATTER, Taíbo Issufo, there were 818 pedestrian fatalities in 2012 which represents 51.9 per cent of the total road deaths.
Issufo was speaking on Tuesday at an event to launch the United Nations Global Road Safety Week, which this year is being held under the theme “respect the pedestrian and respect a life”.
He pointed out that children and the elderly pedestrians are the most at risk of being a victim of a road accident.
Statistics from INATTER show that last year Mozambique had 3,095 vehicle accidents which resulted in the death of 1,574 people with 4,960 injured – 2,131 of whom were seriously injured.
More than 270 000 pedestrians lose their lives on the world’s roads each year, accounting for 22 per cent of the total 1.24 million road traffic deaths.
The week seeks to draw attention to the needs of pedestrians; generate action on measures to protect them; and contribute to achieving the goal of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 to save 5 million lives.
Issufo said that in Mozambique there will be various activities taking place including distributing leaflets, informing drivers of dangers, and speaking in schools about road safety. These activities will be run by members of the police and INATTER.
INATTER has also published the results of a survey of driving schools. Out of 108 schools, 34 were classified as “best”, 50 as “good” and 24 as being “sufficient”.
According to Issufo, these rankings show that there are driving schools that “have lost the requirements they had upon authorisation”. He argued that the law should be amended so that action could be taken against driving schools that fail to meet the minimum standards.
However, Issufo pointed out that now learner drivers can use the rankings to compare driving schools and make a more informed judgement.
Post published in: Africa News