Road safety: 638 people killed in car accidents

Faced with the upsurge of traffic accidents, the Organization for Road Safety in West Africa (Osrao) advocates the strengthening of security measures to bring down the mortality rate.

By Demba DIENG [19659002] The Organization for Road Safety in West Africa (Osrao) wants fewer deaths on the roads. Reason why, she cogit in Dakar for 72 hours. The main motivation for this sub regional meeting is the fight against road accidents. The different delegations were keen to bring the experiences of their countries. This organization sees this phenomenon as a major scourge all over the world and particularly in Africa. With this in mind, the president of Osrao is moved by the staggering figures given by the latest report of the World Health Organization (WHO). "Traffic accidents cause more than 1 million 250,000 deaths each year and 50 million non-fatal injuries. Africa has the highest mortality rate per accident: 26, 6 people killed per 100 thousand inhabitants, "he reveals.
Faced with this situation, he asked member countries to redouble their efforts and vigilance so that the trend is reversed. As for Ibrahima Lo, Cabinet Director of the Minister of Land Transport Infrastructures and opening up, he believes that road accidents cause a lot of damage in the African continent. "Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 24 years. They are also the second leading cause of death among people aged between 25 and 39. "At the national level, it reveals that in the past three years, 4554 accidents have been recorded. On behalf of 2017, 638 people were swept away by traffic accidents. According to him, the poor quality of the road infrastructure, a degraded state of the car park, the irresponsible behavior and the indiscipline of the drivers and the users can sometimes be the main factors which favor these disasters. The representative of the Minister Abdoulaye Daouda Diallo underlines that the 8th General Assembly of Osrao coincides with the implementation of several projects within its ministerial department. "With the national road safety program launched in 2011, we have set ourselves the goal of reducing accidents by 35% by 2020," he says, while recalling that this forecast must be accompanied by such as the management and financing of road safety, the management of the road safety dimension in the design of road infrastructure, the pursuit and strengthening of information, education, communication and awareness-raising. users, the generalization of technical control throughout the national territory and the strengthening of emergency services post-accident.
For Ibou Diouf, representative of the Transport Policy Program in Africa, the vulnerable layers are the most affected by traffic accidents: "More than 50% of accidents involve pedestrians and cyclists. So it challenges everyone. It should be pointed out that traffic accidents kill more than tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS. "
This General Assembly of the Organization for Road Safety in West Africa (Osrao), coinciding with its 10 years of existence, is an opportunity to "discuss the governance and financing of road safety, issues of harmonization of accident data collection systems that allow authorities to drive policies to eradicate the road insecurity ", If we trust Cheikh Oumar Gaye, Director of Road Transport of Senegal
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