Traffic accident: Police not playing their role

The Police have sanctioned many road perpetrators who flout the road regulations during the weekend on the Yaoundé-Boumnyebel road .

"We would like no more carnage on our roads”, said Major General Simon Peter Dagafounangsou, commander of the first gendarmerie while addressing the press on Saturday, following the raid on the Yaoundé-Boumnyebel road.

The exercise was a based on a team "Control surveillance and repression”. According to him, the huge movements of students are to take place without traffic accidents caused. He said to make this effective; he and his team are on a serious hunt for perpetrators of over speeding and continuous overtaking.

General Dagafounangsou gave an instance where one Roland Ndom who was driving a Toyata Carina II, was among the first to be arrested in Goung, the first checkpoint of the National Gendarmerie, around the Yaoundé- Boumnyebel road.

He was traveling at a speed of 98 km / h where the sign read 60 km / h. During interrogation with the national gendarmerie, the motorist played the victim. "I was not speeding. I wasn’t driving slowly because I have a sick person in the car. Why wouldn’t I go at speed in these conditions?” he tried to explain. But to no avail. The instructions were made clear to him that over speeding attracted a FCFA 25 000 fine.

While deliberating on his case, the thread of the gendarmerie made another discovery that he was a man in uniform. The red beret posted at the front of the vehicle betrayed him. He took to his heels when he realized there was no way he could escape.

"Unfortunately he is known as an adjutant gendarmerie. We noted the registration number of his vehicle. He will be sanctioned accordingly”, the General said. Just a few minutes after catching up with the culprit, another gendarmerie was also charged for over speeding. He, unlike the other, admitted his fault.

It was also revealed that crooked drivers had a hard time on the Yaoundé -Boumnyebel intersection. Common drivers and even VIPs were sanctioned with fines by the gendarmerie. Since the operation started at fixed checkpoints in strategic locations, the gendarmerie has added mobile teams.

After the check on the Yaoundé- Boumnyebel road last weekend, the National Gendarmerie intends to continue the hunt for irresponsible drivers on other intersections.