By Hassan I. Conteh
They would race past speed bumps so fast without a check almost every day on the new by-pass road in Freetown.
They’d park and sell on the tarred road without being asked to stop by law authorities.
We are referring to some ‘lawless’ drivers both private and commercial drivers.
These unscrupulous citizens and foreigners are driving on a new by-pass road in the capital with high speed beyond limits.
We are also taking about some sorts of lawless individuals who are in the habit of parking their vehicles along the tarred road on sidewalk areas.
This irresponsible and unprofessional driving style, according to Sierra Leone’s Road Safety Act of 2017, is a criminal offence punishable by law to culprits like these people.
But, it is rather unfortunate that the police are not enforcing road safety laws so stringently on defaulters in Sierra Leone like our neighbouring countries in Africa.
While walking the pedestrian, we saw some motor cycles and vehicles being parked on the sidewalk areas meant for pedestrians only.
A Sierra Leonean, Lamin Koroma, who had lived in Guinea in Conakry capital about two years ago, shared his experience with us on the stark difference he had noticed between Guinean commercial drivers and riders and that of Sierra Leonean public transport drivers, private drivers and riders.
“What I have observed just in this short time while in Sierra Leone is that Guineans [drivers] are more civilized than Sierra Leoneans,”
“There, [ Guinea] when you park carelessly, you pay huge money as a penalty or you risk your vehicle or motor cycle being towed away by authorities. But, here Keke riders or tri-clyces riders would park at prohibited areas on the roads in the capital and elsewhere.”
This bad practice must be stopped by the police and road safety authorities, he went on to say.
However, an Africa 24 journalist was shocked to see some jeeps, cars, vans, motor cycles ( okadas) speeding high beyond limit at a time when school-going children off from their various schools.
New by-pass road in Freetown, Photo taken by: Hassan I. Conteh; copyright Africa24 newspaper
It makes the situation to be considered absolutely worrisome as potential fatal accidents may occur in future along the Freetown’s hill-top by-pass road, which stretches from Kingherham Road in the west to Blackhall Road in the east of Freetown.
The Senegalese CSE’s built road is with no doubt still a slippery tarred road as it has just taken about two years when it’s commissioned for pubic vehicular movements.
CSE is a Senegalese road construction company operating in Sierra Leone for decades now.
We hope traffic officers or officials of Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA) keep monitoring the hill-top by-pass road, now more than ever.
This way, drivers would minimize their speed levels and if that happens; potential accidents involving people especially pupils may be prevented from happening.
It’s always good to prevent a disaster from happening than to respond to a disaster when killings or destruction has already taken place.
Such a lethargy attitude to wait a disaster to unfold somewhere before ever relevant authorities go on a rescue operation is a wasteful endeavor.