Page "Transport in Niger" Paragraph 16

Road accidents have been identified as a major public health concern by the Nigerien government.

According to Chékarou Bagoudou, Chief of the Division of Road Safety and Security of the Nigerien Ministry of Transport, there were 4338 officially reported road accidents in 2008, with 7443 victims, of which 616 were killed.

With the Nigerien government counting 18949 km of roads in the nation, this comes to one accident for every five kilometers in 2008.

Speaking before a National Assembly session, Bagoudou said that the 42. 2 billion CFA francs spent on medical costs for road accident victims accounted for around 25 % of the 2008 budget of the Nigerien Ministry of Public Health.

Transport figures concluded that 70 % of road accidents were caused by " human factors ", 23 % by mechanical faults and 7 % by road conditions.