Despite sensitisation on road safety rules and regulations, many transport agencies still go against the law. Cameroonians are still to forget of the ghastly road accident which occurred along the Bafoussam-Yaounde highway last May 31. A speeding bus overturned several times and landed in a ditch killing 36 people and wounding several others. The bus had about 70 people onboard. According to eye witness reports, the vehicle did not belong to any transport agency. Shortly after the accident, the Minister of Transport was expected to withdraw the driver’s current license. The same week another accident occurred in the North Region in which eight people lost their lives. This is the situation many Cameroonians are facing today on the major highways. Many people fear travelling from one town to the other by road due to the high rate of accidents.

Ignaitus B. who lives in Yaounde said he will not send his family for holidays to the North West Region for fear of accidents. According to Second Grade Police Superintendent, Voumou Tchoupsia, head of the road safety brigade in the Ministry of Transport, accidents are caused due to the state of the vehicles that ply the highway. He explained that travel agencies in the country are poorly organised. “Only one or two agencies are organised,” he said. There is also the problem of rotation plan for drivers in the agencies. Some agencies have limited number of drivers who do long distances. “A driver who drives for 600km in the morning is not supposed to drive in the evening,” he said. Another problem is that drivers of most of the travel agencies are not well paid. As a result they are forced to make several trips in order to make some extra money. Also drivers of these transport agencies have limited or no rest hours. Most of the travel agencies do not make provision for rest rooms for drivers. “A driver who is supposed to do two trips per day finds his resting place in a bar nearby while waiting for the vehicle to be loaded” said Voumou Tchoupsia.

Another major cause for concern is the fact that most owners of travel agencies fail to check the technical state of vehicles using them. It is obvious that all the transport buses in Cameroon are used vehicles but many owners do not bother sending them for regular check up to ensure that states of the vehicles are good enough for transportation. Also the non harmonisation of transport rates is a cause for concern. Some agencies prefer to reduce the normal transport fare in order to have more passengers and to make more trips. This gives rise to competition which results in accidents. Apart from the physical state and age of drivers must be looked into. According to Voumou Tchoupsia, some drivers are up to 55 years which is not normal and also the easy which authorisations are given to open travel agencies. He said the non application of the application of article 666 of the text from the Ministry of Justice on the exigencies on the repression on infringement relating to the Highway Code.

According to Jean Claude Administrative and Finance Officer at the CADCIA Controles in the Mvan neighbourhood, more vehicles have come for check up within the last two years. He said the centre revives at least 120 vehicles per day. He explained when a fault is detected in a vehicle the owner is given 15 days to go and repair it. According to him, the major problem is to make users understand that technical control of vehicle is for their own good. “Very few people understand us,” he said. According to Voumou Tchoupsia, stringent measures will take against any defaulters. Legal actions may also be taken against owners of travel agencies for infringing inter-urban transport rules and causing huge loss of life.