KIGALI, Jan. 06 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda recorded 17 percent reduction of road accidents in 2019 due to a road safety awareness campaign, police spokesperson John Bosco Kabera told Xinhua in a telephone interview on Monday.

Rwanda introduced the " Gerayo Amahoro" campaign, which means 'reach safe' in English, on May 19 last year.

"Last year, the number of road accidents decreased to 4,661 cases from 5,661 that were recorded in 2018, which is an equivalent of 17 percent reduction," said Kabera.

At least 223 people lost their lives to road accidents in 2019 compared to 465 in 2018, according to Rwanda police.

He noted that the campaign was intended to bring reforms in the area of road safety and safeguard road users from traffic accidents that had become rampant in previous years.

"We appreciate the fact that motorists have complied with the campaign and we are grateful for the efforts put in by the campaign implementing agencies to reduce road accidents," said Kabera.

According to him, the reduction in road accidents was due to increased capacity in operations, acquisition of road safety equipment and awareness campaigns targeting pedestrians and motorists.

He said that government will install more camera on highways to curb overspeeding and as well introduce a device called on-body camera, an electronic device attached on a police personnel body like a chest or arm. The device would be used to detect cars that violate traffic rules and immediately punish the offenders through fining them via SMS, according to him. Enditem

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