Statistics on road traffic accidents indicate that the trend is still maintaining an upward direction and more efforts and better strategies have to be adopted to reverse that situation. The average number of fatal accidents in Mauritius taken over the last five years has increased to 150 as compared to 140 over the preceding five years. Road traffic accidents are among the principal causes of death in Mauritius.
The introduction of the Penalty Points System through the Road Traffic (Amendment) 2012, is in line with government’s strategy to increase road safety and to comply with international norms and subsequently reduce casualties on roads. The authorities are of the view that the penalty point system will trigger the right mindset among drivers so that they become more cautious and diligent. Government is determined to take bold and severe actions against those defaulters who have no respect for human life.
With the advent of this new system, the enforcement regime will provide the level of deterrence needed to address road safety problems in a comprehensive and robust manner, with the aim of achieving a significant and substantial reduction in road casualties. Government objective is to bring the fatality rate per 100,000 population down from a relatively high level of 12.2 to a much lower level, if not eliminate it completely.
According to Statistics Mauritius, road traffic contravention rate increased from 12.8% in year 2010 to 15.2% in year 2011. During January to June 2012, the number of road accidents decreased by 6.5% to 10,679 compared to 11,426 during the corresponding period of 2011. Among these accidents, 64 were fatal (caused death) against 63 during the corresponding period of 2011. During the same period, the number of casualties increased by 2.0% to 1,727 compared to 1,693 recorded in the corresponding period of 2011. Among the casualties, around 38% were riders of auto/motor cycles, 27% passengers, 17% pedestrians, 15% drivers and 2.4% pedal cyclists.
The first semester of 2012 witnessed the death of 69 persons as a result of road accidents against 79 during the corresponding period of 2011, showing a decrease of 12.7%. The number of seriously injured persons amounted to 297. Figures show that 30% of drivers killed on the roads have been driving under the influence of alcohol. Following the adoption of a road safety strategic approach Government is coming forward with several projects namely the Driver Education and Training Centre, privatisation of the Vehicle Examination Centres, intensive road safety campaigns and the procurement of additional speed cameras.
At end of June 2012, 411,527 vehicles were registered at the National Transport Authority compared to 400,919 at the end of December 2011, i.e. an increase of 2.6%. Between January and June 2012, some 13,118 vehicles joined the fleet while 2,510 were put out of circulation. The fleet was largely made up of cars and dual-purpose vehicles (191,392 or 47%) and motorized two-wheelers (169,920 or 41%). The remaining 12% comprised vans, lorries, trucks, buses and other vehicles. In the past 10 years, the number of individual cars has exponentially increased from 63,307 in 2002 to 141 827 in 2012.
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