Road Safety Council to keep database of accidents

By SHIRLYN BELDEN
THE National Road Safety Council is to keep a record of all accidents in the country as part of the national road accident database.
The information will be stored in a computer programme, the Micro computers Accident Analysis Package, and will used to improve safety standards in the country.
In addition the data will be used in planning, investigating, enforcement operations and awareness campaigns.
Council acting executive director Nelson Terema said the project would help improve road safety by keeping a record of information that could be used to lift safety standards and cut the number of accidents.
“Statistics from across the country are entered into the system for analysis, and the information is then used to improve safety measures,” he said.
Terema said they had entered into an agreement with the police and he appealed to traffic officers across the country to enter the correct information on their accident forms as that would be entered into the new system.
Terema said the project was a bonus for the council and the country because too many lives were lost unnecessarily through the lack of proper planning of roads and awareness of basic road safety rules.
He said the project was important for other agencies such as the Department of Transport, Motor Vehicles Insurance Limited, Department of National Planning, Department of Health and the general public.
He said everyone had to work together to cut the number of fatalities on the roads.
 “There are other agendas and initiatives that need backing to fully implement but for six years there is no official board to support that.
“I encourage the private sector and government agencies to partner in this project to promote road safety and save lives,” he said.  
He said police previously had a similar system but the software for that was destroyed and he was trying to revive the database.