According to the African Transport Research Conference (ATRC-2024), the SADC region has the highest mortality rate from road accidents in Africa. However, the same organization notes that there are few studies on road safety in this region, which hosts 26% of the population.
Considering the size of Mozambique, its road network, development corridors, cities, and towns, a proper road safety strategy is only possible if the State can systematically and regularly allocate the necessary funding to implement it. The fundamental premise for executing this plan is the existence of road infrastructure that meets minimum safety standards.
In Mozambique, road transport constitutes the backbone of the movement of goods and passengers, posing significant challenges to drivers, passengers, and pedestrians using the country’s road network.
Road infrastructure plays a key role in the country’s economic and social development, connecting communities with each other, especially linking rural communities to urban centers as well as to other countries.
One of the causes of the many accidents in Mozambique relates to driver fatigue, which often leads to serious errors. This fatigue is caused by several factors. One of these, which will be analyzed in this article, is the condition of the country’s roads, with particular focus on routes used for long-distance transport.
In Mozambique, road transport constitutes the backbone of the movement of goods and passengers, imposing significant challenges on drivers, passengers, and pedestrians using the country’s road network.
Roads with constant potholes, sometimes for kilometers at a stretch, as well as road cuts and detours, significantly increase driver concentration demands, forcing drivers to drive additional hours beyond the initially planned schedule. This leads to a sharp increase in fatigue and stress. Notably, this is a daily occurrence on long-distance routes.
Another factor that profoundly impacts driver fatigue, and which is often overlooked, is the availability of rest areas. These should have, at a minimum, the following characteristics:
- Serve as mandatory stopping points for goods and passenger transport to allow drivers to rest;
- Be located in safe areas, for example, next to or near fuel stations;
- Be physically secured and delineated;
- Have staff assigned for management;
- Have adequate lighting;
- Provide adequate personal hygiene facilities with access to showers;
- Provide protection from environmental factors, such as sun and rain;
- Offer suitable sleeping facilities for drivers, thereby complying with legally mandated rest hours;
- Provide healthy and appropriate food for drivers and/or have facilities where drivers can prepare their own meals.
Across various locations in the country, there are fuel stations where many drivers currently gather to rest during their trips. These points could be considered a potential solution, allowing partnerships to create proper facilities for driver rest.
Considering, on the one hand, the current volume of national road traffic in Mozambique, projects spread across the country from north to south, the increased road circulation in development corridors—both for hinterland countries and for ports—and, on the other hand, the projected long-term revenues from natural gas projects, the interest of national transport companies in improving safety systems, as well as development agencies’ interest in investing in structural projects, the conditions are in place to structure a national road safety plan aimed at drastically reducing accidents and fatalities in the country.
This is a project that, given its relevance, can only succeed with the participation of all stakeholders, namely: the government, companies, development agencies, and the population.
The continuous improvement of Mozambique’s road infrastructure, overseen by the State, is a fundamental aspect for achieving the goal of significantly enhancing road safety.
There is no doubt that there are many other measures Mozambique could take to improve road safety, but if the country could secure funding to develop a plan of this nature and implement these two measures in a short period of time, it would represent a very significant effort.
