With the year drawing to an end and the Christmas Holidays fast approaching, Botswana Railways has also secured a spot on the Road safety gravy train as they will be launching safety campaigns on November 7th in Gaborone.
There has been an escalating rate of railway line crossing accidents in the past few years.
Under the theme of “Don’t compromise safety”, the Botswana Railways has taken an initiative and will be introducing “the level crossing awareness campaign” nationwide along with the, “Catch them Young” awareness campaign.
In a statement issued by Botswana Railways, it is indicated that this initiative is taking place “to sensitize the public about their safety along the railway line”.
Through these campaigns, the safety message will be spread across all generations since the Catch them Young part of the campaign is specifically designed for Pre primary and primary school going children. This will hopefully curb the number of casualties resulting from road level crossing accidents and ultimately increase overall road safety awareness regardless of proximity.
A selection of messages regarding the safety precautions that need to be taken when crossing the road at railway lines like, “Hold the hands of children up to five years old when crossing the railway line” will be disseminated through all sorts of mediums like pamphlets and posters. It appears to be a colourful campaign with the aid of not only text but pictures too.
Botswana Railways would also like to inform members of the public that they will be working in conjunction with The Botswana Police Services and The Department of Roads Services. This is to ensure the smooth running of the operation during its course. To fulfil the campaign’s primary mandate, which is to decrease level crossing accidents, the Botswana Railways urges motorist, pedestrians and the community at large to cooperate with them throughout the campaign.
