Motorists, infrastructure responsible for road accidents

As the saying goes, the road does not kill, but people do. In metropolitan cities and along the highways, accidents occur on a daily basis. Each time one occurs, it leaves human and or material damages.

The Regional Delegate for Transport for Southwest, Ivo Vevanje, has asserted that the climatic condition of the Buea municipality, notably the foggy nature of the city, reduces visibility which greatly accounts for the numerous accidents registered in the municipality.

The poor state of vehicles and infrastructural lapses are all contributing factors. Nevertheless, the Regional Delegate stated that drivers are, to a greater extent, responsible for this, since they ought to master the ‘road language’.

John Ebako, a taxi driver remarked that over-speeding is also responsible for the accidents, adding that the forces of law and order accept bribes to let go drivers without driving licence and other required documents. He said such drivers end up creating confusion on the road and the result is road accidents.

Police Inspector Njikam Mohammed, however, refuted such claims, saying the regional units for public highway and traffic for the Southwest Region has never experienced a situation where they led go drivers without their complete documents.

Thomas Ntanji, monitor of Flexible Driving School Buea, explained that the slippery nature of roads due to heavy rains may lead to road accidents.

Also, the non-respect of the Highway Code by some road users contributes to road accidents. This opinion is shared by Emmanuel Nsangou, Commander of the ‘Brigade’ Routier of the Southwest Region. He said that most accidents are as a result of the non-respect of the Highway Code, mostly by drivers.

“A driver is any person morally and physically capable of handling a vehicle. He must be trained in a legal institution known as a driving school, and sit for a driver’s licence exam and succeed. The state of our vehicles should always be good. Drivers should have spare tires, reflective triangles and other driving necessities,” Thomas Ntanji advised.

Song Sinkam, monitor at OIC Driving School talked on norms; “No one is eligible to a driving test without passing through a driving school, but, nowadays, someone leaves his house to the Ministry of Transport and is registered. I don’t know how and, at the end of the day, you see him driving his vehicle and says he passed through the Ministry of Transport to have his licence. I don’t know if the Ministry of Transport owns a driving school. At times you hear people saying, “I don’t care about going to the driving school. After all, I have someone at the level of the Ministry of Transport. I will give my money, stay at home and my licence will meet me there,” he lamented.

Sinkam said drivers should apply their knowledge of the Highway Code and the Ministry of Transport should organise refresher courses so that, by the time drivers renew their licences, their knowledge of the Highway Code is symmetrically renewed, this will in a long way help to reduce road accidents in the Buea municipality and the country at large.

Brigade Commander, Emmanuel Nsangou, remarked that, thanks to the efforts and participation of the national gendarmerie in the road safety campaign since 2012, road accidents reduced nationwide considerably. For instance, the Southwest Region moved from 50 registered accidents with 19 deaths and 91 injured in 2012 to eight accidents, six deaths and 12 injured.

They will use this opportunity to caution drivers on the dos and don’ts of the highway. The Regional Delegate said they were actually sensitising the public through general meetings with executive members which, in turn, transmits o their syndicates to make sure drivers are well educated on road safety measures as a means of preventing road accidents.