SLRTA on road safety training in schools

The Sierra Leone Road Transport Authority (SLRTA) on Thursday 7^th November, 2013 commenced nationwide road safety training in schools at the Prince Of Wales Secondary School (POW), Kingtom, Freetown on the theme: ‘Children Are Killed On Our Roads Often When Going To School.’ (Photo: Dr. Sarah Bendu making a statement at the ceremony)

The aim of the training is to enhance the road safety campaign and its inclusion in the school syllabus for civic education.

SLRTA Executive Director, Dr. Sarah Finda Bendu stated that road safety affects everyone adding, “road safety education in schools is truly a passport for life as we all use the roads. Most of us use the roads everyday as pedestrians, cyclists, drivers or passengers in vehicles. It is essential therefore to ensure that we travel as safely as possible.”

Dr. Sarah Finda Bendu further stated that worldwide, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of deaths among 15-19 year-old and the second leading cause among 5-14 year-old revealing that every two minutes, a child or teenager dies in a car crash while another 38 are injured.

She went on to reveal that annually, around 80,000 children, aged 5-14 in developing countries, lose their right to education due to accidents while going to and from school which he attributed to poor behaviour and knowledge, poor facilities and unsafe routes to school.

The Executive Director further outlined the causes of road accidents that include over-speeding, road structures, the incompetence of drivers with some not having knowledge of road signs and also those with blurred eyesight who drive at night as some of the major causes for the increasing rate of accidents in the country.

Other factors are vehicle configuration, careless or reckless driving (including using handheld mobile telephones while the vehicle is in motion, driving through the red light, emerging from a side road into the path of another vehicle), lack of sensitivity and responsibility on the path of state authorities and disregard for road and warning signs.

Dr. Bendu further explained that the effects of road accidents can be far reaching as accidents do not only result to the loss of lives but financial, damage to property, injuries, lawsuits  and in some cases life-long disabilities leading to an increase in depedency and ultimately poverty.

She admonished the pupils to be cautious while traveling on the road, understand the highway code as well as identify and understand the causes and contributory factors of accidents.

“It has been estimated that road crashes cost Sierra Leone 1.3% of its Gross Domestic Product that includes material, medical and lost productivity. Let us build a road safety culture for the development of the country that is our collective responsibility. Together we can save lives,” she articulated.

SLRTA Consultant and Transport Training Coordinator, Kolo Kamara said that road accidents in Sierra Leone are of human error and are preventable and accused drivers of negligence and failure to adhere to road signs.

Kolo Kamara further stated that road safety education has been dormant for the past decades underscoring that the safety of children is paramount.

Sheik Yazid Raschid, Special Assistant to the Executive Director, chaired the ceremony.

The pupils commended SLRTA for the laudable venture in educating them on road safety and urged Government and other partners to support SLRTA in its drive to enhance road safety.

By Abdul R. Bedor Kamara

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