Arnaldo Manuel Carlos was speaking to the press at the end of the second extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers, chaired by the President, João Lourenço, which approved the National Plan for Prevention and Road Safety 2023-2027.
According to the general commander of the National Police of Angola, road accidents continue to be the second cause of death in the country, after malaria, with the registration in 2022 of 2999 deaths and more than 15,000 injuries, out of a total of 13,000 road accidents.
According to the official, the plan has 29 operational objectives and 146 key actions, to be carried out by different ministerial departments, including reducing road accidents by 50 percent by 2027, placing Angola in the 'ranking' of the 10 countries in Africa with the lowest road accident rate and among the five countries with the lowest mortality rate in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
"With the approval of this instrument, the executive intends to improve the process of training vehicle drivers, develop a culture of road education, guarantee efficient management and increase the levels of safety of infrastructures, vehicles, road users, as well as perfecting and expanding rescue and assistance services for accident victims," said the commander-in-chief.
On the situation of road accidents in the country, Arnaldo Manuel Carlos referred that there is a daily average of 18 to 20 accidents and between five to 10 deaths per day, two to three times higher than those registered in common crimes.
"When, for example, five homicides are recorded, for example, 20 deaths from road accidents, then the picture is not good, it is quite worrying", he stressed.
For Manuel Carlos, "the picture is anything but good from the point of view of road accidents", emphasizing that the almost 3000 deaths recorded in 2022 do not include those of injuries that may have evolved to death.
Among the main causes of accidents are being run over, due to the recklessness of drivers and the lack of road education of passers-by in general, pointed out the head of the National Police, also pointing out the poor condition of the roads and vehicles, among other factors.
