New Bill Proposes Allocation of 5% Road Fund Fee to Post-crash Medical Services

ADDIS ABABA – The government of Ethiopia is preparing a new Road Safety and Insurance Fund Service Regulation to finance Post-accidents emergency medical service provision, according to Ministry Transport and logistics.

The regulation will enforce the allocation of at least 5 percent road fund fee to Post-crash emergency medical services, said Minister Dagmawit Moges, while addressing a a High Level Event on Road Safety organized virtually the president of UN General Assembly today.

The Minister has shared Ethiopia’s experience of managing and sourcing domestic finance and called for a coordinated Global Action on road safety related activities .

Dagmawit also emphasised that, for Africa and the rest of the developing world, providing considerable focus to Road Safety “is not an option, rather is a priority”.

The Minister also said Road Safety is not expenditure but rather a critical investment in Ethiopia, revealing the government is finalizing a new Road Safety and Insurance Fund Service Regulation.

The Ministry of Transport an logistics “will enhance the engagement of the private sector to source additional finance for Road Safety,” she wrote on twitter after the meeting.

The government is currently pushing to realise the African Union effort of reducing the traffic fatalities by 50% by 2030.

In the last three years, it has managed to reduce fatalities by 20% in the last three years, according to the ministry.

However, the rate of car accidents remains high despite having one of the lowest rates of car ownership in the world – 2 cars to 1,000 people.

Last fiscal year alone, at least 4,161 people died and over a 10, 000 people sustained injuries due to in traffic accidents in Ethiopia, according to the Federal Police.