Monrovia, Montserrado- Chief Traffic Investigator of the Liberian National Police, Chief Gray, pointed out that the Liberian economy is also in the accident sector, which is an economical component and during 2019 over 40 deaths and 300 hundred injuries occurred along the Monrovia- Gbarnga highway as a result of road accidents.
“This is the main thing we want to tackle so our economy can get stronger, if you prevent accidents, our taxes will grow,” he stated during one of the Road Safety Comedy shows ending of 2019.
Stretching from Jan to Nov 1, 2019, the fatality rate increased along with the grasp that Liberia needed to do something about diminishing road accidents “fast”.
To illustrate, World Health Organization in 2018, ranked Liberia as having the worst safety record worldwide, with an estimated 35.9 deaths per 100,000 people. Chief Gray furthered that road accidents and Deaths affect the economy and puts Liberians in poverty.
“The government depends on its citizens because they pay their taxes to the government. If you die in a road crash, what happens to our taxes, what will happen to the contribution to poverty?” he questioned.
Consequently, Chief Gaye described the road accident that occurred along the Gbarnga highway from a blown out tire in October of 2019, as being the worst deadly road accident to have happened last year. Six people were reported to have died instantly.
Chief Gaye believes that road accidents increased in 2019 as a result of ‘road safety messages not being cut across more widely’. Undeniably, he also uncovered that bad tires has been the upshot of most road accidents, as it’s a deadly instrument of death,
“And also relates to road traffic accidents” added.
“The simple message in our advocacy is personal safety, if you know about your personal safety, you will be careful with your life. Once you realize you have one life to live, regardless of the things not put in place, you will protect your life. Your safety for wearing your helmet is personal, because if you die and I’m wearing my helmet, I’m not going to die with you,” Chief Gray furthered.
Meanwhile, the Road Safety Initiative in Liberia, which includes its Road safety Comedy show, is supported by the German Cooperation, Deutsche Gesellschaft, für Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and assistance provided by the Liberia National Police. The venture is designed to be one of the ways in changing the statistics that glooms over Liberia’s head.
Some of the awareness programs the Liberian National Police have conducted began in July,
“We had our safety awareness under the theme, Save Road, Save Liberia and in July we hosted the first ever Road Safety Comedy Show in club Elyria on the old road, where comedian Lib Jalloh won that competition. We also had a road safety quizzing in August, where 6 communities participated,” Chief Gaye added.
“We are making road safety awareness entertaining so people can understand the awareness in a way where it will be more understandable.”
Nevertheless, Alphonso Bindah, Chief of Traffic of the LNP, says in partnership with Common Sense solutions Inc., they hope to get the safety message across Liberia from now on. And in order to do so he said, having such awareness programs can send across the right safety rubrics.
“Excessive speed and lack of knowledge of safe road (e.g. crossing the street) are major factors in fatal road crashes in Liberia; road collisions are prevalent in Liberia.”
He also assures that understanding what Road safety is can lead to prevention of road death(s).
“It is a method or measure used to prevent someone from being killed or sustaining body injury. Road safety is a new phenomenal in Liberia and that is why we are engaged into awareness,”
Also, according to the LNP data 9.8 vehicle and traffic, it states that the police should publish quarterly (monthly) to the public. To help keep them informed of the road stats.
” We believe that if the awareness is national and people are involved, the media is proper in getting the message out every other day about accident, we believe people will believe that indeed it’s time for us to come together and make the road accident stop according,” chief Bindah states.
