The Senegalese roads have just been the scene of one of the greatest tragedies known to our country in the field of transportation. Forty-one people lost their lives on the road to Kaffrine, putting an entire country in turmoil and pushing us to a serious introspection. We will not stop saying it, the sanctity of life is what has been lost the most in the soul of Senegal. Irresponsible and reckless practices, which can endanger life, can be found in all the acts of daily life. Our roads have transformed into morgues, making all interurban trips risky throughout the country.
In the wake of the Sikilo tragedy, a report in the newspaper Le Quotidien mapped the « accident-prone » road sections that are most dangerous for motorists and their passengers. This critical map shows that dangerous road corridors exist in almost every region of the country and shows the extent of the problem on our roads. One can only be depressed to learn that in 2021 alone, 14,666 accidents were recorded in Senegal, causing 519 deaths and 23,044 injuries. This loss of life is unbearable, and we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to all the practices that lead to road tragedies.
It is even more disgusting that for most of the accidents, the guilty negligence, and the very Senegalese casualness of the drivers, coupled with lax control and sanction mechanisms, are at the origin of the tragedies. I still cannot explain to myself how gas station stores on one of the country’s main highways have shelves of alcoholic beverages available to the public. It is also shocking that for years; no serious effort has been made to organise the whole economy around the « clandos » vehicles serving as feeder lines between big cities or districts of the same district.
One can only welcome the will to put an end to the chaos through the measures taken during the Inter-Ministerial Council on Road Safety that was convened following the Sikilo tragedy. However, our public authorities should do away with the kid gloves and mete out severe punishment to preserve lives on our roads. The different measures aim at correcting the mistakes that we have all observed. It is more than normal that thousands of drivers and passengers of two-wheeled vehicles are asked to wear helmets, when we realise that this type of transportation has become unavoidable in all major cities of Senegal. It is high time that all the luggage racks of passenger transport vehicles are emptied of the heavy loads of products and goods sitting on the heads of their passengers. The ban on night passenger transport is timely when one considers that the most violent accidents, such as the one in Sikilo, occur late at night. Each measure taken responds to a specific problem on Senegalese roads, which could be very damaging.
Financial sanctions must be stricter so that road users realise that infractions and abuses must be paid for dearly. As I had to defend this line of thought in a column entitled « Unruly Driving: A Disease That Must Be Cured », I think that it is time that financial sanctions without reserve be the rule on our roads.
By Serigne Saliou DIAGNE / saliou.diagne@lequotidien.sn
