By Gibao Brima

In a bid to protect motorbikes, vehicles that have been involved in accidents or arrested for various traffic offences, the District Traffic Officer (DTO) in Kaffu Bullom, Loko Masama and Kamasodo Chiefdoms in the Northwest Region, Inspector Franklyn Peter Bangali and his team has erected a safe parking center to secure arrested motorbikes that are involved in traffic offences including accidents matters under investigation awaiting to be charged to court.

With his wealth of experience in traffic duties, DTO Bangali wants to ensure that the centre is a learning zone where roads traffic signs could be boldly printed and displayed at the centre to educate bike riders and motor drivers to be able to know the various road signs.

In a snap interview with DTO Bangali why he decided to take up the project, he told our reporter that Lungi is a gateway to the outside world and is the first point to touch before entering the nation’s capital and as such motorbikes are commonly used there as a common means of transportation.

Accidents, the senior traffic officer said, is common especially when we are now in the rainy season and therefore need somewhere to keep defaulting bikes and vehicles since they are expensive and a source of revenue for many people in Lungi.

He said if they do not have a well secured place to protect these bikes, there is a probability that some unscrupulous motorbikes who may not want justice will sneak under the cover of darkness to cart away their motorbikes and the responsibility to retrieve it will lies squarely on the police and it will be difficult because the traffic unit has no parking lot for arrested bikes.

“The police are human beings and are not present everywhere so there is a possibility for any bad person to sneak in at night to steal.

But thank God for this venture as we can now put all arrested bikes including those involved in accidents in one secured place and chain them serially,” the DTO said, adding that the parking center is well electrified to help drive away intruders that may want to commit mischief. Asked why the parking center has road traffic signs, DTO Bangali said his areas of responsibility has many riders that are not knowledgeable in traffic signs, which he said are contributing factors  for most riders in  to commit offences.

Asked what are the factors responsible for most of the road accident cases, the

DTO Bangali highlighted four main reasons including mechanical, engineering, environmental and individual behavior.