At least 1068 people were killed on Malawi roads in 2022, the Malawi Police Service has said.
461 of these say the Police, were pedestrians and caused by drivers who drink and drive and overspeed.
“Some of the causes of road accidents are overspeeding, careless overtaking, ignoring traffic signs, driving under the influence of alcohol among others,” Police said.
The Police say the number of accidents were less than 9416 recorded in 2021. 5553 road accidents were recorded last year.
“919 fatal road accidents were recorded where 1068 people died while in 2021, the MPS recorded 1226 fatal road accidents where 1444 people lost their lives,” said Police in a statement.
In 2022, 573 people were seriously injured as compared to 755 people who sustained serious injuires in 2021. In 2022, 4179 escaped with minor injuries as compared 6019 in 2021.
Saloon, minibuses, pick ups and motorcycles are top four type of vehicles that are being involved in road accidents. For example in 2022, 4183 saloon motor vehicles were involved in road accidents as compared to 7530 in 2021.
Meanwhile, pedestrians are the most victimized despite the number of road accidents reducing. In 2022, 461 pedestrians were killed by motorists as compared to 634 in 2021. In 2022, 109 motorcyclists were killed compared to 144 motorcyclists in 2021.
In 2022, 1910 road accidents were caused due to overspeeding compared to 3384 in 2021, 35 road accidents were caused due to driving under the influence of alcohol compared to 59 in 2021. In 2022, 439 road accidents were caused due careless overtaking as compared to 779 in 2021.
MPS has observed that most motorists defy speed limits at night when passing places where speed is regulated like trading centres. For example, 461 pedestrians were hit and killed by speeding motorists some of whom were crossing the road at night in such places where speed is regulated but the motorists did not comply with the road traffic regulations.
