By Ibrahim Joenal Sesay
September 06, 2020, (232News)
FREETOWN – Road traffic accidents have been occurring at an alarming rate. Ghastly road-traffic accidents have been common occurrence along major high-ways in Sierra Leone. Causes of such accidents range from reckless driving by drivers who are drunk to the deplorable state of the roads available and over-speeding by over confident drivers. Another major source of concern which has over the years acted as a major source of accidents is the state of the road-traffic congestions. Statistics have shown over the last decade that the prevalent incidences of road traffic accidents have been responsible for the untimely deaths of many innocent citizens.
According to the latest WHO data, road traffic accidents in Sierra Leone for example reached 1842 or 2.5 of total deaths. The age adjusted death rate is 37.37 deaths per one hundred thousand of the population which ranks Sierra Leone number 26 in the world.
It has therefore come as no surprise that the Sierra Leone’s enforcement agencies have given an in principle endorsement of plans to improve traffic management and enhance crime prevention using modern ICT System in the country. This was as a result of consultative meetings with the Police Executive Management Board; officials of the Freetown City Council; and the Deputy Executive Director SLRSA.
The Package will consist of an Automatic Number Plate Recognition and Driver License Verification; in-vehicle camera for speed violation and CCTV system to monitor traffic in the Western Urban Area. The Technical Team was led by Mr. Victor Ako Mengot an international Traffic and Road Safety Expert; Mr. Philip Wijers Director of Government Affairs Sensysgatso (www.sensysgatso.com) and Oliver Klarke of Roviagate Technology in Liberia.
Sensys Gatso is the leading provider of traffic safety solutions delivering systems, software and services primarily for automatic traffic. Sensys Gatso has subsidiaries in Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, the USA and a branch office in UAE. The group is a result of a merger of Senys Traffic AB and Gatso Beheer B.V. following Sensys traffic acquisition of Gatso Beheer.
Earlier this year, in an effort to solicit sustained support on road safety campaign, the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority engaged senior media practitioners in a one day dialogue forum. Executive Director of SLRSA Mr. Panda-Noah said while road safety education has primarily been the responsibility of government in the past, limited resources have made it challenging to communicate the importance of key issues consistently and effectively. He pointed out that it is not government alone that benefits from reducing traffic incidents. The benefit goes to everybody in the society from journalists, business executives, politicians, farmers etc.
If implemented, the new traffic monitoring design will not only minimize the rate of road traffic accidents but will also be used to curb the rampant robbery and other crime related incidences. The system was piloted in Liberia during the tenure of Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
