Member of Parliament for Nianija
(Photo: Hon. Amadou Camara)
By Landing Ceesay
Member of Parliament for Nianija, Hon. Amadou Camara told the Government to address the surging cases of Road Traffic Accident (RTA) in the country.
“… I wish to draw the attention of the government and in particular, the Minister for the Interior to look into the issue of road traffic accidents with a view of instituting stringent measures of mitigating it. We cannot continue to tolerate the tragic loss of lives through road traffic accidents. Equally, I call on the Standing Committee of Defence and Security of this August Assembly to initiate a parliamentary inquiry into the matter and proffers solutions to it,” he said.
The MP further earlier told the Parliament that research has shown that the rate of Road Traffic Accidents in developed countries has decreased due to strict law enforcement, vehicle safety, road standards, among others.
Among others, Hon. Camara said the Police mostly blamed ‘reckless, dangerous, and careless driving’ as well as ‘over-speeding, overloading, and distractions’ by drivers as the leading causes of RTA in the country.
“Hon. Speaker, identifying the drivers as the lead causes of these accidents may be acceptable, but the authorities, especially the police have a role to play in mitigating these factors. Statistics have revealed that in 2020 and 2021, the country has officially recorded 787 and 971 road traffic accidents respectively. This showed an increase in the number of accidents from 2020 and 2021. What is more alarming, Hon. Speaker is that the first quarter of 2022 only registered 382 Road traffic accidents. This means, if the trend continues, by the end of the year 2022, we may register close to 1500 accidents,” he told the Parliament.
Through appropriate reforms and strategies to mitigate the menace claiming lives of the peoples almost on a daily basis, he believes the government has a “big role” in tackling the RTA in the country.
The young parliamentarian made these remarks on Tuesday, after his request to bring to the attention of the authorities the frequent Road Traffic Accidents was granted by the speaker.