How 5 Bucks Of Reflective Tape On A Donkey Cart Saved Lives

The 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Stockholm earlier this year focused on the motor vehicle crash epidemic that every year kills about 1.35 million people around the world and severely injures some 50 million more.  

At a gathering of journalists, Liz Man, communications manager of the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, a nonprofit that represents nearly 250 non-governmental organizations from more than 90 countries, detailed safety initiatives the alliance and its members are involved in to combat the escalating death toll.

There were many noteworthy examples, but one stood out for its simplicity: the donkey cart project, a low-cost, low-tech intervention that its organizers say is effective in preventing serious crashes and saving lives by merely affixing about $5 dollars of reflective tape to the exterior of donkey carts.

The initiative was the idea of Maatla Otsogile, founder and coordinator of the Society of Road Safety Ambassadors, a Gaborone, Botswana-based member of the Global Alliance. Mr. Otsogile spoke with a reporter on the phone recently. We followed-up with a written Q & A about how his work helps to keep residents in his community and others nearby — as well as travelers who visit them — safer.     

Responses were edited for length and clarity. 

Could you briefly describe your organization?  The Society of Road Safety Ambassadors is a non-profit organization with a mission to promote road safety awareness, safe and sustainable road use, and effective road safety policies. We are committed to supporting the Botswana Government to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the country’s roads.  

Why was the donkey cart project necessary?  Despite increased motorization in Botswana, donkey carts are still the main means of transport in the rural areas and are used on a daily basis for getting children to and from school, community members to and from work, and for carrying out basic daily chores, like accessing water.  However, increased motorization, combined with inadequately maintained infrastructure, has made this transport mode unsafe, in both urban and rural areas, and the needs of donkey cart users are routinely omitted from road improvement plans.  As most roads have no special provisions for people who use donkey carts (or bicycles), they are quite vulnerable.

How did the initiative come about?  The idea for the project began in 2016, soon after I nearly had a crash with a donkey cart due to visibility issues. It happened one winter night when I was driving back to my village along a road with a lot of traffic from the city. It was dusk, and as I approached a village, just after a curve, I found myself almost hitting a donkey cart crossing the road. Thankfully, I wasn’t speeding. After I hit the brakes hard, I swerved to the edge of the road, avoiding the donkey cart by a whisker. 

How widespread is the project? Initially, when the project began four years ago, there were 666 donkey carts with reflective tape in three rural villages along the busy A1 Highway. The program has since grown to 2876 donkey carts in 12 communities, and now also includes bicycles that use reflective tape.

Was a change noticed right away?  Indeed there was. And when we conducted surveys, they showed an increase in understanding about the importance of visibility, and donkey cart users said they felt safer and more included.

How effective is the program?  Crashes involving donkey carts dropped from 299 during the year before the project to 176 the following year —a reduction of more than 40 % in five rural villages along A1 Highway. However, there are serious problems with data collection and under reporting. The police don’t really acknowledge non-motorized transport and don’t prioritize it. We are engaging them to strengthen this area to be able to better measure the extent of the problem, and our program’s impact. Overall, we feel the program is effective, given that we see more donkey carts at night that have reflective tape on them, and by the feedback and appreciation we receive from the communities involved.

In addition to reflective tape, traditional signage, like street signs and markings at crossings are also being implemented. 

Has the program been widely accepted?                                                                                           The program has made a tremendous difference, especially given its comprehensive approach to involving village leadership and community members. They feel they are a part of the solution.The beauty of this program is the educational component, which informs donkey cart users. Like motorists, they are expected to obey road safety precautions in order to curb crashes in our country. So, not only has there been a reduction in crashes involving donkey carts, there has also been an increase in awareness by users of them. 

The Chief of Topisi, one of the rural villages, has hailed the project as much needed for his community. As a donkey cart user himself, he said he feels much safer on one that has reflective tape on it.

(Topisi, is a small village, but a major highway cuts through it. Many villagers need to cross it every day, and visibility issues are compounded because of a lack of street lights.) 

Are Botswana’s accomplishments realistic goals for other countries?   Yes, very realistic and achievable. The idea can be replicated and adapted to the needs of a particular country.

Have other NGOs and countries expressed interest in doing something similar?  India, Kenya, Ghana and Morocco have shown interest in replicating the idea. Some countries are already affixing reflective tape to 2 and 3-wheeler cycles.

What’s the next step for your organization? We have identified other safety issues associated with donkey cart use in addition to visibility that need addressing, like drinking and driving and allowing minors to drive them, which is not permitted by law. So, just like with vehicle drivers, we need to educate donkey cart users about the importance of obeying the law. We have also realized there are a lot of un-roadworthy donkey carts being driven. Some are made out of dangerous materials, others are the wrong size and dimension. Currently, the law is weak regarding donkey carts. We want to lobby for changes to the law to include more specific regulations and better enforcement. 

It’s been very satisfying to be part of such a simple, yet effective intervention that saves lives.

A word about funding:  In 2016, the Society of Road Safety Ambassadors received a seed grant through the Global Alliance’s Empowerment Program, funded by FedEx, which also sponsored a video about the donkey cart project. 

As the project grew, it sought additional funding. The Global Alliance introduced Mr. Otsogile to 3M, a manufacturer of reflective material, which provided financial support and donated reflective tape. 

“It has been a great privilege to assist Maatla as he planned and implemented this project,” Lotte Brondum, executive director of the Global Alliance, told Forbes.  “It is really exciting to see the difference that being part of an international alliance has made to this fantastic, grassroots initiative in rural Botswana.” 

To learn about the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, which was organized by the Swedish Government and the World Health Organization, click here.

For more information about the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, click here, and for the Society of Road Safety Ambassadors, click here.