Back-To-School: Keep Our Roads Safe

It will be another school year full of promises and determination from pupils, students and administrative staff. The aim being to achieve set goals or dreams depending on the category of persons involved. Just like in the past, the government has through some specialised institutions decided to take the bull by the horns by embarking on a nationwide back-to-school road safety campaign because it is a period that more travellers are on our roads. Special detachments of the National Gendarmerie as well as officials of the Ministry of Transport have been deployed on major roads to ensure that all commuters respect the Highway Code.

Though these specialised units carry out controls, monitor and sanction traffic offences, the issue of road safety especially during back-to-school periods is the responsibility of each and every one. This begins with the sensitisation phase on the major highways where several messages have been placed along roadsides. They are not there for fancy, but to raise awareness and to remind motorists that there is need to slow down and avoid distractions. With a little awareness and prevention, all travellers can arrive at their destination in a timely and safe manner.     

Of course, this show of concern for road safety has been justified by past experiences where people have seen their journeys cut short forever by either irresponsible or impatient drivers. According to the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) data published in 2020, `Road Traffic Accidents Deaths` in Cameroon reached 7,810 or 4.36% of total deaths that year. The study further pointed out that the age adjusted Death Rate stood at 40.18 per 100,000 of population and it ranked Cameroon as number 24 in the world in terms of death by road accidents. It equally disclosed that road accidents were the 9th highest cause of deaths out of some 50 factors picked out by the World Health Organisation. Such figures are enough to attract attention given the often dramatic consequences of such deaths to the society.

For road safety measures to be reality, drivers who are the main actors need to sit up. No matter how hasty or busy a driver might be, there are certain rules and regulations that they must respect; obey speed limits which may change during this school period. Driving at very high speed has never been a catalyst for profit-making, but rather for fatal accidents. Avoiding distracted driving and paying attention on the road is of great importance to all drivers. Several studies have shown that the percentage of people driving and answering phone calls or browsing is on the rise despite legal dispositions put in place by the government. Not that a driver on a highway can’t answer a telephone call. If he intends to, he should park on a well guided stretch of road before answering his call without any pressure. He should only drop off passengers at designated locations to avoid accidents. The driver, apart from making sure all vehicle occupants wear their seatbelts, must respect all road signs without exemption. Making sure the car he is to drive is in good condition and has all administrative requirements like, insurance, roadworthy certificate and first aid box, is a great plus. However, even if all the above conditions are met, the most primordial is the state of the driver. For any driver to ply the highway, the manager of the transport company must make sure he is in good mental state, alcohol-free. Owners of transport companies should know that it is needless to put the lives of many passengers in danger by asking the driver to make many rounds even when tired. A constant change of drivers and checking of the state of the car before it is put on the road should also be given a priority in the day-to-day management of any transport company especially those that cover long distances. On the heels...