Tackling fake licenses to drunk drivingĭrunk driving, speeding, drowsiness, negligence, non-use of seat belts and helmets, and non-compliance with traffic regulations are the main cause of road accidents in Africa, the agency reported. According to the World Bank, the cost of road accidents represents eight per cent of Senegal's annual GDP and 7.8 per cent of Côte d’Ivoire’s.Ī busy road intersection. In addition to the human tragedy, road accidents trap countries in a vicious cycle of poverty. Indeed, Africa has the highest proportion of cyclist and pedestrian fatalities, accounting for 44 per cent of the total number of road deaths. ‘Vicious cycle of poverty’Įfforts are also being made to protect the most vulnerable road users, namely pedestrians and cyclists, who are often also the poorest and youngest, the agency reported. Senegal had enacted a decree in 2001 limiting the age of imported cars to 5 years, amending it in 2012 to 8 years, UNECE said. In 2016, the average age of the vehicle fleet in Senegal was 18 years, with 40 per cent older than 20 years, according to the UN Environment Programme ( UNEP). Curbing unsafe vehiclesĪddressing obsolete vehicle fleets requires special attention in West Africa, UNECE said, adding that Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire mainly rely on imports of heavily used vehicles. These bus accidents have highlighted the obsolescence of fleets of vehicles in both countries alongside a lack of technical control and a failure to comply with highway codes, the agency said. Recent tragedies spark public outcryĪpart from the deadly Senegal incidents in January, in the same month, in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, a bus accident killed 14 people and injured 70 others, while a similar collision in August 2022 killed 25 people in the north of Abidjan. The first harmonized approach in Africa to regulate imported used vehicles, the project, when fully implemented, will have a “significant impact” on the environment, health, and road safety, the agency said.Īfrican countries are committing to strengthening reporting on road crash fatalities. One of the goals is to import safer and environmentally friendly vehicles in Africa to avoid tragic accidents. The initiative supports regulating the export and import of used vehicles in Africa, particularly regarding regulations and technical inspections. Todt said the right investment, can save lives.Īt the moment, governments, the private sector, and civil society, with help from the UN Road Safety Fund, are partnering in a new project that ultimately aims at reducing traffic deaths and ensuring vehicle safety, UNECE said. Meeting with authorities and civil society in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. “Africa is particularly affected by the tragedy of road accidents, which is the leading cause of youth mortality,” he said. In Africa, traffic deaths account for about one quarter of the global number of victims, even though the continent has barely 2 per cent of the world’s vehicle fleet, said the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, who just returned from a visit to the streets and highways of West Africa. That is three times higher than Europe’s average of nine and well above the global average of 18, according to the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which manages 59 of the Organization’s legal instruments on inland transport, including the UN road safety conventions.Įvery year, 1.3 million people around the world are killed as a result of road crashes, and millions more are injured, the World Health Organization ( WHO) said. In the world’s region most affected by road crashes, sub-Saharan Africa’s fatality rate is 27 per 100,000 inhabitants. In nearby Côte d’Ivoire, the daily number of fatal road accidents has risen to 46, from just 12 in 2012. Increasingly grim accident statistics provided the impetus for action, including two bus crashes in Senegal that claimed 62 lives in January.
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