Bamenda I & II councils take measures to prevent motor bike accidents
The Mayor of Bamenda 1 council has lauded the efforts of CBM AusAid and CBC Health Services through it Program Socio Economic Empowerment of Persons with Disability (SEEPD) Program for promoting disability and inclusive development in the council. Mrs Caroline Bi Bongwa was Speaking on December 14 2017 during the launching of a join motor bike campaign organized by the Bamenda I & II councils.
She noted that with the prevalence of disability in the NWR, and in her municipality, the council will always take hold of opportunities for partnerships like the partner that the council signed with the CBCHS in 2015 which has gone a long way to impact the population in the areas of health ,social inclusion and education Mayor Caroline said the motor bike campaign was thus one of the strategies put in place by the council to curb the prevalence of disability which research has proven that one of its causes is the motor bike accident
Given that one of the causes of bike accident is ignorant of the high way code bike riders, the Director of Yensi Driving School Gilbert Yensi drilled the riders on the different road signs and their meanings. He called on the riders to always have the bike riders, road and bike, users, on their minds when riding giving that they are always the victims of accidents. Mr Yensi highlighted excessive speed, wrong overtaking, wrong use of the road, poor dressing, and overloading as the leading causes of motor bike accident The Director also challenged them to enroll in driving schools and acquire a driving license which he said is very important to all drivers and riders
Educating the bike riders on the research sponsored by SEEPD Program and carried out by Center for Inclusive Studies(CIS), the Community Based Rehabilitation field worker Mr Chongwaim Johnson said the studies revealed that 125 people have accidents in the NWR every day as a result of motor bike, 35 of them end up with fractures, 96% of the bike riders have not gone to the driving school ,95% of bike riders in the NWR do not put on helment during riding and 97% of the passengers have never worn helments
Marveled by the statistics of the research , the bike riders noted that it is a situation which is very preoccupying .They called on the Delegation of Transport to put in place measures that will facilitate the acquisition of driving licenses and copies of the high way code
The event which brought together some bike riders of Bamenda I &II and the leaders in the bike riders’ union was characterized by visual acquit done by the CBR field workers and volunteers to access the vision of the bike riders .Those diagnosed with poor vision were referred for further check up
It should be noted that the motor bike campaign organized by the Bamenda 1& II councils has added to the number of campaigns that have been organized since 2016 by some councils that the SEEPD Program is partnering with It is hoped that by the end of the partnership in December 2018 the high rate of bike accidents in the NWR will reduce significantly
