Gendarmerie intensify control on highways

Attention was focused on the Pouma-Edea highway on Saturday January 3, 2015.

The National Gendarmerie Road Safety Campaign continued on highways in the country last weekend to ensure road safety on the eve of the reopening of schools. Attention focused along the Pouma-Edea highway on Saturday January 3, 2015.

As usual, the offences checked by the officers included over speeding, lack of First Aid boxes, number plates, non-use of seat belts, lack of driving documents such as the driving licences, the windscreen licence, insurance and roadworthiness attestations, among others.

At the gendarmerie checkpoint in Kakanzock village, some three kilometres from Edea, the gendarmerie team was busy at work. A road user, Christophe Teagun, was imposed a fine of FCFA 25,000 for over speeding and for not putting on seatbelt. His car also had a cracked windscreen. The First Aid box of a 57-seater bus was forced open by the control team only to find fake objects in the place of drugs.

The driver had to pay FCFA 7,000 instead of FCFA 3,600 as the bus was supposed to have two First Aid boxes. At the next gendarmerie checkpoint in Dibamba, gendarmerie control was equally strict. Some drivers who were already fined at the Kakanzock check point still fell into the trap of the checkpoint in Dibamaba due to non respect of road safety rules.

Colonel René Kountchou, Head of the Alpha Detachment in Pouma-Edea, said strict measures were being taken to ensure that school children go back to school and their families safely as well as to reduce accidents. Chief Warrant Officer, Evelyne Andeme regretted that drivers still continued driving without seatbelts, were over speeding and over loading.

She explained that even though the speed limit in that zone was 90 km/h, some drivers do not respect the rule. She said the highest speed recorded during the weekend was 154 km/h. This notwithstanding, gendarmerie officers continue checking passengers with metal detectors to ensure security on the highway.