By Ragan M. Conteh

One of the strongest women in Sierra Leone, Madam Susan Bona has attributed the many road accidents to reckless driving and poor vehicle maintenance among others.

She said following the most recent tragic accident along the Kambia highway that claims the lives of David Olu Williams a vibrant and hardworking staff of the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) and Emily an intern with the Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) for which she has already sent her condolences to the bereaved families.

The road safety situation in Sierra Leone is serious mainly due to what many said is the growing vehicle population and an ineffective implementation of road safety interventions. Economic growth is deemed to increase road safety challenges in the country.

Various sources of information for RSA data exist in Sierra Leone but unfortunately they are not homogeneous and provide different figures. RSA data collection and management process is also not standardized across the entities involved.

According to Madam Bona has raised deep concern over so many tragic road accidents which have resulted in many lives being lost in the country.

She also blamed the situation on the ineffectiveness of road safety department of the Sierra Leone Roads Safety Authority (SLRSA).

Poor vehicle maintenance is another key problem Susan Bona has highlighted, noting that out of every five vehicles in Sierra Leone, especially in the city Freetown, where she said at least two or three are with either smooth tires, poor emission (black smoke from the exhaust) and or faulty lights.

Madam Bona stressed that the problems are cause for alarm and therefore called on the Sierra Leone Roads Safety Authority to put drastic measures in place to prevent or minimize these loses and to innocent lives are protected.