The paper presents the pedestrian's situation in Botswana's road system. Following a brief overview of the safety situation the statistics concerning pedestrian casualties are detailed. It is found that ca 65 percent of the accidents occur when pedestrians cross the streets. The author discusses several reasons for both the high accident rates and the high proportion of accidents occurring when pedestrians cross the street. Among the causes the inadequate provision for pedestrians in the road network in rural and urban centres are pointed out together with deficiencies in land use planning and road user education. Furthermore, driver competency and attitude and the failure of the Botswana's Road Traffic Act to discourage dangerous and reckless driving are contributing factors. The author lists several measures to be taken in order to overcome the problems but also recognise for Botswana and other third world countries most of these measures are in the pipeline and may not be the most prioritised.
Abstract