As the country prepares for school closure for the first term this Friday, concerns are high among road safety practitioners about the safety of school children on the roads.
Children between the age five and 19 constitute a significant number of vulnerable people who die on the roads annually.
According to the Road Traffiic Management Corporation’s 2023 State of Road Safety Report, 14.30% of people who died on the roads in 2023 were young people in this category.
This means that of the 11 883 people who died in road crashes in that year, an alarming 1 699 were young people of school going age.
As part of efforts to reduce road fatalities over the Easter period, road safety practitioners and traffic authorities will be paying attention on the safety of these children. The closure of schools for the first term, coincides with the end of the month when many people will have received their monthly salaries.
Experience has shown that end of month weekends pose a significant risk for road safety as some motorists engage in drunken driving while others undertake long distance trips from industrial hubs to their homelands.
Traffic is expected to be higher this weekend as some parents may seek to take their school going children home or on holiday.
To ensure the safety of the children and pedestrians in this period, law enforcement officers will intensify their drunk driving operations to ensure safety and compliance with the rules of road.
Highly visible patrols will be maintained on routes that are expected to experience increased traffic volumes. Road safety practitioners have already conducted youth focussed road safety education and awareness campaigns in places of learning to improve the children’s consciousness about appropriate and safe usage of the road.
Young people can also assist these efforts by avoiding walking the streets while talking on cellphones. They must also buckle up whenever they enter a vehicle.
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