Republic of Mauritius- Road Crash Data Management System to enable scientific analysis of data

According to the Minister,  the new and modern system will improve the existing one that was a paper-based process deemed cumbersome. The aim of the project to the tune of Rs 14 Million including Rs.2.5 Million for the purchase of 80 tablets, is to ensure quality of data in terms of accuracy, consistency, completeness, integrity and timeliness.

He indicated that the RCDMS is driven by iMAAP, a software developed by the world recognised firm, Transport Research Laboratory, UK, and will be implemented with a partnership with the State Informatics Limited Mauritius . The system, he said, was adopted by Tamil Nadu in 2009, and it successfully helped to  bring down the number of road accidents and fatalities from 13.39 for every 10,000 vehicles in 2006 to 10.09 in 2010. 

The Minister highlighted that road traffic injuries are the leading cause of deaths in Mauritius, and deplored that last year, some 144 persons lost their lives on our roads and hundreds were either severely or slightly injured. This, he said, is a clear reminder to all of us that using the road involves high safety risks, while adding that  everyone has a role to play to make commuting on our road safe.

The Minister underlined that road safety is among the key responsibilities of his Ministry and the signing of the MoU seeks to address, together with a series of measures, the number of road accidents and fatalities on our roads, in line with the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 launched by the UN, and the  National Road Strategy 2016-2025. Hence, with a view to reduce the number of road accidents, the ministry has come up with a series of measures , namely: sensitisation campaigns, regular enforcement of traffic laws activities; including crackdown operations, strengthening of road traffic legislation, and introduction of road safety education in all primary schools.

The Minister observed that bad driving behaviour is the leading cause of road accidents and if the numerous other reasons are identified, remedial actions can be taken to  bring down number of road fatalities. To this end, the new RCDMS will analyse that data scientifically and detect contributory factors leading to accidents, to finally come up with measures, he added. He pointed out that it will enable the analysis of the How, Where, and Why of road accidents so as to allow planning and implementation of remedial measures.

He indicated that the RCDMS makes use of web and mobile applications, and that data collection  by police officers at crash scenes will now be done by means of tablet and data and will be automatically uploaded at the Government Online Centre. He also announced that the data collected under the system will be used by The National Road Safety Observatory which will be set up through a collaboration between the Ministry and the University of Mauritius.

The 80 tablets, that have already been  configured and tested , will soon be handed over to each police station across the island , including Rodrigues. The first part of a continuous training programme  for some 100 police officers on how to use the tablets for collections of data has been completed.