Worrying statistics:

Already 4190 cases of road accidents in 2017

Road accidents have killed at least 116 persons in August 2017 alone

For several weeks and months now, highways in Cameroon have been the scene of serious traffic accidents, claiming the lives of hundreds of road users and causing significant personal injuries and damage to property.

                Already described as a great concern, the resurgence of accidents has reached the danger level.

                The Government is not indifferent to this situation, which has serious consequences on the economic and social life of the nation.

                Reason why Communication Minister, IssaTchiroma used a press conference Thursday in Yaounde to “enlighten the national community on this preoccupying concern, and to present the measures taken so far to curb the phenomenon.”

                Tchiroma noted that Cameroon recorded the highest number of deaths from road accidents in the year 2010 when 1,200 deaths were recorded. He said the incidence dropped gradually up to 2014 when 1102 deaths were recorded.

                The government spokesman noted that unlike in 2014 when about 3088 cases of road accidents were reported, the situation is more alarming in 2017 when 4190 cases have been recorded in just the first eight months of the year, with 179 of these cases resulting to deaths, 784 causing personal injuries and 3227 resulting to property damage.

                In August 2017 alone, there were a total of 626 accidents of all categories, with 34 resulting to deaths, 79 to personal injuries and 513 to property damage.  Also, 98 deaths resulted from road accidents in August.

                Tchiroma attributed the growing phenomenon of road accidents to multi-form causes including human, material, infrastructure and environmental causes.

                The human causes hold drivers accountable for over speeding, risky overtaking, overloading of passengers and/or goods, driving under the influence of alcohol, unauthorized parking, non-respect of warning road signs and markings for vehicles in distress, use of phones while driving, lack of driving skills, overlapping of solid lines, just to name a few.

                Physical causes are directly related to the technical condition of vehicles mainly characterized by wearing tires, failure of braking systems, and the guilty complacency of agents in charge to inspect vehicles.

                Concerning infrastructure, they generally have to do with the state of roads characterized by frequent potholes, visibility failure due to the covering of roadsides by trees and brushes, caused by the non-clearing of roadsides, the scarcity or lack of rest areas, the lack of equipment to pull stuck or abandoned vehicles on roadsides, poor road signs and establishment of unwanted speed breaks. 

                In terms of environmental causes, we should indicate the aspects of rainfall and unclear weather, which significantly reduce the visibility of drivers.

                Studies have revealed that 70% of accidents in August 2017 were due to human causes, 20% due to infrastructural causes and 10% due to technical causes.

                Bearing in mind the aforementioned causes, the government has taken the following measures: improving the circuit of obtaining and issuing driving licenses and enhancing the training of candidates for driving license exams; proliferation of permanent and unannounced controls at boarding, pick-up and drop-off points of passengers; multiplication, with the assistance of the Police and Gendarmerie Forces, of controls on main roads; proliferation of controls in technical inspection centres; monitoring of high-risk locations of accidents; compliance with the strict regulations governing the hours allowed for the movement of heavy goods vehicles and itineraries open to traffic; the limitation of night journeys; systematic removal of vehicles in distress etc etc.

                To this should be added the generalization of alcohol tests, the intensification of the controls of the regularity of license plates, the technical inspections of vehicles and drivers’ licenses, the regular controls by the Police and Gendarmerie joint patrols at roadblocks, the unannounced visits at bus stations and other passenger boarding places.

                Repressive measures have also been taken to further penalize certain offenses under the Highway Code.

                The obligation to fix the optimum speed limit to 100 kmh for public transport vehicles and heavy goods vehicles is also envisaged in the short term.

                With regard to the infrastructural causes particularly linked to road conditions, specific measures have been planned to satisfactorily rehabilitate and maintain the level of road service.