Drivers Raise concerns about road accidents

By Sainabou Sambou

Drivers around the Kanifing Municipality have raised concerns on frequent accidents happening on the roads as they described it very rampant saying drivers are not following the traffic rules and regulations.

Ebrima Njie  a taxi driver  expressed his concern over the common road accident saying driving license should be given to only qualified and reasonable drivers.

He stated that reckless driving always lead to road accident whereby drivers are always hold responsible each time there is one.

Some of these drivers, according to him, are not qualified because they don’t know the traffic signs, rules and regulations.

He went on that some of the drivers sometimes drunk and drive in that state of mind they will not be able to control themselves which can cause accident.

Reckless drivers, he said, are the ones that always cause road accident not because the road, no matter how small, wide, tarred or not the road is “if you drive carefully you won’t cause accident.”

Amadou Jallow, a tricycle rider also affirmed that reckless driving is the cause of most of the accidents on road and most of the tricycle riders on road are always drunk driving which they need to be examined by the traffic police.

Jallow added that driving needs full concentration and when you are drunk don’t drive, period

Another thing, he said, the drivers are not giving chances to each other when there is traffic jams, every one of them wants to move at the same time “even some of the drivers use the footpath when driving and deprive people from walking on the road,.”

More so, either commercial or private drivers in this country, they are parking anyhow on the highways to drop passengers, and that shouldn’t be because it can cause accident.

Really, he noted that the traffic police are doing good job to avoid road accident but the drivers also should try as much as possible to obey the signs, rules and regulations of the traffic and as well remain focus when driving

Most of the drivers and including Babucarr Sillah a taxi driver said road accident is cause by reckless driving, but added that there is no good road in the country.

On his own he claimed that most of the drivers are not Gambians and they are drunkard   there is no good road in the Gambia.

He urged other drivers like him to stop over speeding which is part of reckless driving while encouraged traffic police not to relent on their good jobs on the roads.