There is little or no doubt that when a person leaves home and boards a vehicle or simply walks on foot by the road; the hope is that the person will reach home safe and sound. No one expects to be hit by a car or be in a car which ends up being involved in an accident in which they lose life or limb.
However, it seems that the incidents of road accidents in the Gambia have increased so much as to become common occurrence. Many a time, one reads of an accident at one place in the country or the other. This concern has surfaced again in the past few days.
Among the many possible reasons that analysts point out are the issue of road unworthy vehicles with faulty brakes, over speeding, bad roads in some cases and ironically good roads in certain areas in the country. Authorities have to look into all these possible causes so that they can come up with a plan to curb road accidents.
Some people have pointed out that there are lots of drivers on the roads who have no sense of discipline and they drive anyhow. This sometimes leads to fatal accidents. The level of indiscipline on the roads in the country is just too much. Many a time, these drivers are too young to understand the value of life and as such drive recklessly.
For this and many other reasons, authorities need to look into the issuance of driver’s license. A policy should be developed which will make it stricter to obtain a license. There has been talk in town that some people obtain driver’s license without undergoing any tests or even appearing at the centre.
Also there is fear that some drivers engage in drink and drive. Thus, they may be driving under the influence of either alcohol or some other forms of intoxicants. A mechanism should be developed which will ensure that people who have consumed a certain amount of intoxicants should not drive.
The latest incident of loss of life on the roads is the death of one Chemistry Teacher. This is a huge loss and something must be done to prevent it from happening again.
