Buea cab drivers schooled on road safety

From Mua Patrick Mughe in Buea
 

Over 100 township taxi drivers in Buea were last Monday schooled on basic road safety measures in a bid to curbed road accidents within the municipality. The sensitization come-together was organised by the Buea-based Cameroon Road Safety Foundation , CAROSAF. The event, staged  at the Molyko Omisport Stadium focused on speed limit for taxi drivers.

Edwin Minang

For over three hours, CAROSAF road safety consultant, Ekema Monono Sammy entreated participants at the meeting to drive within the stipulated speed limit for drivers within towns which he insisted must be 40KM per hour. He said if the numerous road accidents recorded each day in Buea especially along the main Boulevard from Mile 17 to the police roundabout must be brought under control, drivers must obey basic road safety measures.

“These tips that have been given today are particularly on speed because it has been discovered that a number of people who use the highway drive above the recommended speed limit. I spoke particularly with taxi drivers because speed limit prescribed by the ministry of transport specifies that they should drive at 60km per hour but in towns it is recommended that they should drive at 40km per hour. So we were like calling on them to try to reduce their speed while they drive” Ekema Monono retorted.

CAROSAF national coordinator, Edwin Minang, in a chat with newsmen at the close of the sensitization gathering expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting. He said: “I am happy with the compliance from the taxi drivers because as I have always said, taxis use the road most. A taxi driver starts at 6.am in the morning right into the night while private car owners take their cars to work, park them and only use them again after work”, the no- nonsense road safety expert noted.

Last Monday’s sensitization meeting with cab drivers came barely a week after the launch of a campaign dubbed: “Accident Free 2014/2015 back to school” by CAROSAF in collaboration with the Buea council. The organization’s move is also as part of the current campaign against road accidents, conducting a drink-driving survey in partnership with the US- based international Centre for Alcohol Policy whose results, Edwin Minang opined, will greatly assist policy makers in Cameroon come out with strong decisions on drink-driving attitude in the country.   

“We have had a series of activities since this campaign was launched and have been to the Mile 17 Motor Park to meet with inter-city bus drivers, we distributed tickers talking about speed. During this same campaign we  are carrying out a drink-driving survey which is all about taking the impression of the general public on the issue of drink-driving in Cameroon, we will also talk to the law enforcement officials on the laws that they have in place to combat this phenomenon,” CAROSAF boss stated further.

Meanwhile, talking to The Guardian Post at the end of the meeting, the president of the Buea Township Taxi Drivers’ Union, SN CHAUTAC, Molombe Samuel described the current campaign by CAROSAF and the Buea council as a wonderful initiative. Samuel Molombe was optimistic with the new knowledge acquired, drivers will change their attitude thus curbing road accidents within the municipality.