Vigilant Motor Vehicle Control is among the measures Police can take to reduce road accidents because half of cars involved in road accidents have mechanical faults, insurers at Radiant Insurance Company told senators yesterday.

The insurers appeared before the Senatorial Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security to exchange ideas on how road carnage can be reduced.

The Managing Director of Radiant Insurance Company, Marc Rugenera, criticised the country’s Motor Vehicle Inspection Centre for what he called "failure to take some cars off the road even when they have been on the road for many years.”

"There are cars that get involved in accidents and when you look at them you wonder how they even got the licence to be on the road,” he said.

Rugenera said some cars should be written off because no matter how they get inspected for technical wellness, the years they have been in service can be the cause for constant and unexpected mechanical failures.

"Cars should also be retired; just like people retire at a certain age,” Rugenera said.

Motor vehicle control in the country is operated by the Kigali-based and Police-runMotor Vehicle Inspection Centre, commonly known as "Control Technique,” whose services habve since been decentralised.

The insurers cited the state of cars being driven on the country’s roads among other factors that can cause accidents, along with the state of roads, careless pedestrians and cyclists, street vendors, and speeding.

However, they thanked the Rwanda National Police for keeping rigour in ensuring road safety, efforts that Rugenera described as very helpful in curbing accidents.

"If people were not getting punished for their mistakes, accidents would multiply like ten times. It’s always better to prevent than to provide cure,” Rugenera said.

In August, President Paul Kagame tasked public officials to initiate measures to end a spate of road accidents in the country.

Different officials, including officers at the Rwanda National Police, have since moved to sensitise Rwandans about the tips for preventing road accidents and punishments for offenders have been strictly applied.

The Rwanda National Police has since reported a 15 per cent decrease in road accidents in recent weeks.

In August and September, 1,127 accidents were registered, compared to October and November, which saw 953 accidents.

The number of deaths from the accidents has also decreased by nearly 35 per cent in the months of comparison, from 113 to 74, while the number of injured people decreased 23 per cent, from 662 to 511.

Senators said ideas gathered from different stakeholders will help them come up with an informed response to road safety concerns.

"We are exploring mechanisms to avoid road accidents,” said Sen. Jean Damascene Bizimana, the committee chairperson.