Road safety: Minister of Transport vows to implement tough sanctions on careless road users

The Minister of Transport Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe gave a press briefing this Tuesday 2nd April 2019 during which he discussed new measures to reinforce road safety.

The Minister presented a statistical report on the causes of road accidents in Cameroon.

# 70% of road accidents caused by human error, 20% on bad state of vehicles and 10% on state of the roads.

#More accidents caused by youths 25 years and younger.

#Close to 52% of vehicles plying the highway are older than 15 years.

# Over 7,000 fake driver licences are in circulation

The Minister identified over speeding and drunk driving as major causes of road accidents.

Road safety: The zero tolerance measures applied

SENSITISATION

Apart from suspending inter-urban travel agencies that do not conform to the regulations, government has been sensitising road users on the need for responsible behaviour.

 ALCOHOL DETECTORS

The government acquired some 1.5 million electronic alcohol detectors used by the National Gendarmerie and Police.

Since then, 7,000 drivers tested positive for consumption of alcohol in the different patrols.

SPEED MONITORS

Speed monitors are progressively being installed along major highways.

The Minister said since the monitoring operation started along the Yaounde-Douala highway for example, the number of defaulters have dropped from 3,336 to 1,000 between November 2018 to 25th February 2019.

PEDAGOGY

The Ministry of Transport has also printed and made available the Highway Code to road users.

In other to reach out to the youth, government and partners are running over 400 road safety clubs in schools nationwide to raise awareness on best highway conduct.

ROAD WORTHINESS CERTIFICATE

Government is currently working on a project to take off over 20,000 vehicles presently in circulation.

The Minister promises to instruct competent officials step up checks so that only cars in good state will be allowed on the roads.

Minister Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe called on road users to respect the Highway Code in order for the roads to be more secured.

Bruno Ndonwie Funwie