Without hammering very much of the causes of the accidents, which are many, and are known virtually by every Tom, Dick and Harry, it is however disturbing that such occurrences like the one that happened around Pouma taking the lives of four people, could have taken place in the heart of the road safety campaign. According to the Senior Divisional Officer for Sanaga Maritime, four vehicles collided on one spot in two successions killing four people and wounding 65, ten of them seriously.
This number supplements the several thousands that have died under such circumstances. In 2008, Just Class and Securoute, two Franco-Cameroonian Non-Governmental Organisations published very disturbing figures, indicating 7,020 accidents which resulted in 1,450 deaths, 11,604 wounded and losses estimated at FCFA 100 billion for the national economy. The accident in Pouma is a veritable pin in the balloon for the road safety campaign. That the vehicles involved were rolling in the night is one of the irking questions to ask even though night travels have become a normalcy. That the driver of the 70-seater bus could be moving with poor brake system is another big question. And that no immediate measures were taken to avoid subsequent ones is another question.
The series of accidents that have occurred since the launching of the road safety campaign on September 02 partly tell of the inefficient nature of the exercise. The campaign especially targeted transport buses considering the role they play in the transportation of children going back to school. Checkpoints set up on major highways and rural roads set out to verifying the state of drunkenness of drivers, excess speed, over-loading and any other thing likely to cause driver errors. The Secretary of State for Transport was quite categorical at the launching when he promised tougher sanctions against all those who would violate road safety during the 20 days of the campaign.
In spite of these threats, very little seem to have changed on the field. Night journeys continue. In fact, the majority of the students who travelled back to school from Yaounde and Douala to the North West and West Regions went by night. Not only have road safety agents been absent from motor parks to authenticate vehicles before takeoff or reject those that are technically inapt, they allow many vehicles ply past check points on highways.
The results obtained every year after road safety campaigns leaves much to be desired. It is perhaps time to rethink the strategy and readjust it to suit the changing times.
