Systems Approach to the Road Safety Problem in Tanzania

Road traffic accidents have been on the increase ever since in Tanzania, despite some considerable efforts to minimise the problem. Road safety management is widely used worldwide in various forms and at different levels of refinement to manage traffic safety. Safety Management System (SMS) incorporating system approach of problem solving technique and Road Safety Audit (RSA) approach is recommended for adoption in Tanzania. The Road Safety Programme (RSP) initiated in 1996 but not totally implemented to-date has most of SMS attributes and could easily be improved. Most of RSP component programmes and actions are at piloting or implementation stages, with an exception of those that require legislation changes. It is therefore, suggested to all relevant bodies to co-operate in the implementation of RSP. For long time measures for reducing traffic accidents in this country have been biased towards legislative direction without putting equal weight to engineering and education.