What are Sierra Leonean politicians doing for African Road Safety Day 2021?

Just a few hours after a community fulfilled its obligation to bury those who died on the Wellington highway, politicians had already coopted the tragedy with promises they had no intention to keep. 

Once all the flag-draped caskets were laid out, the victims (some still unknown) were interred at Waterloo, the same cemetery where Ebola victims and the 2017 mudslide victims were also laid rest, according to Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr.

Anxious not to be painted as uncaring, politicians launched donation drives for survivors instead of stressing efforts to reduce road casualties, draw attention to the devastation caused by road crashes, and give recognition to the suffering of road crash victims and the work of support and rescue services.

Before moving on to their suburbs, where neighbors don't plunder fuel tankers involved in road crashes or scavenge palm oil streaming from overturned trucks, politicians did remember to pose one last time for the mobile phones. 

For people like Jusu Jaka Yorma, who live close to one of the deadliest highways in Freetown, the hope is that the wailing women, and young men who hauled coffins from a military truck, remember the dangers they face as vulnerable road users. 

"My name is Jusu Jakayorma, popularly known as JJ," he told Sierra Network. "I am a resident of Taylor Street, Wellington. The incident [tanker and tipper lorry road crash] happened five to ten minutes before I arrived. But from what I saw and gathered, this sand truck was coming from Waterloo. A tanker was trying to turn, and the truck hit the tanker. The impact caused the tanker to start leaking fuel. As traffic began to build up, some people began scooping fuel from the leaking tanker.

"As you know, Sierra Leoneans like to take advantage of a situation. But the whole thing became disastrous when a smoker dropped his cigarette butt, and everything went up in flames. Three fire engines came soon after, but they couldn't do much because of the intensity of the flames. So, when the fire died down, we started retrieving charred bodies with the help of the Red Cross and helping people with severe burns.

"This incident has taken hundreds of lives and caused so much property loss and a national sense of awareness about our dangers," JJ said.  

The third Sunday of each November is remembered as African Road Safety Day, also the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. 

The ceremony is held in African cities to raise awareness on road safety issues and encourage community involvement for traffic-related injury and death prevention activities.

Traffic accidents constitute a considerable expense for society; every year 1.2 million people are killed on-road and 50 million are injured. 

In 2012, the UN General Assembly took steps to address this global problem by proclaiming the Decade of Action for Road safety 2011-2020. The resolution urged countries to decrease road traffic deaths through collaboration/interventions in both public and private sectors, with the involvement of civil society.

Without effective action, traffic deaths in the region were expected to increase.  This situation worried the continent because of the combination of vulnerable road users, poor vehicle condition, under-developed infrastructure, lack of risk awareness, and ineffective enforcement jeopardized by weak institutional arrangements.

In September 2020, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, with the ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.

WHO and the UN regional commissions, in cooperation with other partners in the UN Road Safety Collaboration, have developed a Global Plan for the Decade of Action, which was released in October 2021.   

The Global Plan aligns with the Stockholm Declaration, by emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach to road safety, and calling on continued improvements in the design of roads and vehicles; enhancement of laws and law enforcement; and provision of timely, life-saving emergency care for the injured.

The Global Plan also reflects the Stockholm Declaration’s promotion of policies to promote walking, cycling, and using public transport as inherently healthy and environmentally sound modes of transport.

Progress made during the previous Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 has laid the foundation for accelerated action in the years ahead.

Among achievements is the inclusion of road safety on the global health and development agenda, broad dissemination of scientific guidance on what works, strengthening of partnerships and networks, and mobilization of resources.

This new Decade of Action provides an opportunity for harnessing the successes and lessons of previous years and building upon them to save more lives.