Beyond 1,347 road crashes: Grasping safety challenges

DAR ES SALAAM: A RECENT discussion with investors in Dar es Salaam evolved into a wider debate about road safety, public responsibility and the role of government.

The immediate concern was the growing visibility of young Tanzanians performing stunts on roads, bridges and other public infrastructure, raising questions about public safety for motorists and pedestrians alike.

The questions were straightforward: If authorities can see these videos circulating online, why can’t offenders be identified and held accountable? Others wondered why traffic officers appear more visible during speed enforcement than when dangerous road stunts occur.

Similar concerns emerged during discussions with community groups in Dodoma, Morogoro and Tanga. Across the country, many people are asking the same question: Are enough measures being taken to prevent behaviour that puts lives at risk?

The concern is understandable. Roads are critical national assets that support mobility, trade and economic activity.

Any conduct that increases risks to motorists, passengers and pedestrians deserves serious attention. Yet understanding the challenge requires looking beyond enforcement alone.

Road safety is both a public health and an economic issue. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 1.19 million people die in road crashes every year, with more than 90 per cent of fatalities occurring in low- and middle-income countries despite these countries owning only about 60 percent of the world’s vehicles.

Road crashes also cost economies an estimated 3 per cent of GDP annually through healthcare expenses, productivity losses and property damage.

Africa bears the world’s heaviest burden. In 2021, the WHO African Region recorded approximately 225,482 road deaths, accounting for about 19 per cent of global fatalities despite having only around 3 per cent of the world’s vehicles.

The region’s fatality rate of 19.4 deaths per 100,000 people remains the highest among all WHO regions.

These figures place Tanzania’s challenge in perspective. The issue is not whether Tanzania has a road-safety problem, it does. The more important question is whether the country’s experience is fundamentally different from that of its regional peers.

The evidence suggests it is not.

Across Africa, rapid urbanisation, rising vehicle ownership, growing motorcycle use and enforcement constraints continue to drive road accidents. Even countries with relatively stronger infrastructure and institutions continue to record thousands of fatalities each year.

The lesson is clear: Better roads and more police officers alone cannot eliminate road accidents. Human behaviour remains the dominant factor.

According to Tanzania’s Crime and Traffic Incidents Statistics Report for January– December 2025, the Mainland recorded 1,347 road accidents.

Human factors accounted for 1,296 cases (96.2 per cent), while vehicle defects contributed 29 cases (2.2 per cent) and environmental or infrastructure factors 22 cases (1.6 per cent).

These figures do not mean road stunts should be ignored. Dangerous stunts contribute to unsafe road environments by encouraging reckless riding, distracting motorists and normalising risky behaviour.

However, they represent only one aspect of a broader challenge that includes speeding, dangerous overtaking, careless driving, distracted driving and reckless motorcycle use.

This explains why traffic enforcement often prioritises speeding. Although a speed violation may appear to be a routine traffic offence, its relationship with road fatalities is well established.

Higher speeds reduce reaction time, increase stopping distances and significantly raise the severity of crashes. For that reason, enforcement agencies typically allocate resources according to risk rather than visibility.

This brings us to another common question: Why aren’t police officers stationed everywhere?

The answer lies in mathematics, capacity and economics.

Tanzania has a population of more than 60 million people and a road network stretching approximately 181,865 kilometres, including national, regional, urban and rural roads. Continuously monitoring every road, bridge and intersection would require resources beyond the capacity of virtually any police service.

The Tanzania Police Force performs responsibilities extending far beyond traffic management, including criminal investigations, public security, intelligence, emergency response and community policing.

Historical data shows that in 2015 the country had approximately 45,487 police officers serving about 49 million people, roughly one officer for every 1,071 citizens. That figure represented the entire police force, not traffic officers alone.

By June 2024, Tanzania had approximately 4,119 traffic police officers. During the same period, they handled more than 1.5 million traffic offences, averaging about 375 recorded offences per officer in six months.

The scale of the challenge is evident. With more than 181,000 kilometres of roads and only a few thousand traffic officers, permanent coverage of every highway, bridge and urban road is simply not feasible.

There is also a financial reality. Maintaining a permanent police presence at a single location requires multiple officers to cover shifts, leave, supervision, transport and operational support. Extending such coverage across thousands of locations would require substantial additional public spending.

The policy question, therefore, is not whether the government should enforce road safety, it should. Rather, it is how limited resources can be deployed to achieve the greatest reduction in deaths and injuries.

The objective is not merely to place more officers on roads, but to ensure every public shilling invested in road safety delivers the greatest possible impact.

This is where social media enters the debate. Citizens are right to argue that digital evidence can assist law enforcement. Videos showing dangerous riding or reckless driving may reveal vehicles, locations, dates and individuals involved.

However, enforcement must still follow due process. The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania guarantees the right to life under Article 14, while Article 16 protects privacy and personal security.

Authorities must therefore establish that an offence has occurred, verify the authenticity of digital evidence, identify the individuals involved and ensure the evidence satisfies legal standards before prosecution.

ALSO READ: Africa meets in TZ on nuclear safety

The challenge is therefore broader than enforcement alone. Governments must determine whether limited resources are best allocated to monitoring online content, expanding traffic patrols, installing speed cameras or improving road infrastructure.

These are ultimately economic choices. Every officer assigned to one responsibility cannot simultaneously perform another. Every increase in enforcement spending competes with other national priorities. The goal of government is not to maximise arrests but to maximise public safety.

As finance and economic analyst Dr Ntangeki Nshala observed, “The safest countries are not those with the most police officers. They are those that combine strong institutions, smart investment, technology, effective enforcement and responsible citizens.”