CBC-SEEPD campaign to mitigate accident caused by bike riders

The Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services, Department of the Socio-Economic Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, SEEPD, in collaboration with the Northwest Regional Delegate of Transport, have begun a six-month campaign aimed at sensitising bike riders and road users on the safe usage of motor bikes in order to curb accidents, disabilities and deaths.

Addressing commercial bike riders of Tubah Subdivision during a one day seminar on June 29, the Programme Officer of CBC-SEEPD-Programme, Emmanuel Chia, congratulated the over 100 bikers who attended the seminar.

He revealed that in 2014, 125 cases of accidents were recorded each day and one of the main causes was reckless riding by the commercial bike riders and other road users, who are suffering from eye problems.

As a result, the SEEPD Programme had to organise free eye screening, but a few bike riders showed-up for the eye screening exercise.

Appreciating the initiative from the CBC-SEEPD, the Secretary General at the Tubah Council, Olive Nfon, pleaded with bike riders to share the knowledge gained and respect the rules in force.

Talking on the safe usage of bikes, Julius Tangem of SEEPD, cautioned the bike riders to ride gently, dress properly, wear helmets to protect themselves and passengers in cases of accidents.

The representative of the Northwest Regional Delegate of Transport, Elvis Modika, who is in charge of road safety, was furious that bike riders do not attend the free classes offered by his service.

The Northwest Secretary General for Road Safety, Clement Andeh, called on bike riders to protect pedestrians, respect road signs, avoid overtaking at sharp and to avoid drinking and driving.

“We are issuing insurance Category ‘B’ alongside number plates, and your insurance lasts for one year. The age limit declared for bike riders in Cameroon is 18 years and above, avoid phone calls while riding, be clean and be polite to passengers,” Andeh advised.

A fact-sheet presented by the Centre for Inclusion Study, revealed that, apart from 125 motorbike accidents that occurred in the Northwest daily, 35 people suffered fractures daily due to motor bike accidents, about 20 percent of these persons are now disabled, 10 percent died from head injuries, 90 percent bike riders have never had any formal training, 95 percent do not wear helmets and 97 percent of passengers have never worn a helmet.

The intention of the SEEPD programme is to work with stakeholders in the transport sector, organise and implement 100 campaigns on the safe usage of motor bikes to reach 10,000 people in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. The SEEPD is a development programme focused on the well being of Persons with Disabilities, PWDs, in the Northwest Region. It ensures that they are socially and economically improved.

SEEPD was designed to facilitate the active participation of disability stakeholders in the Region in the improvement of quality of life of all PWDs. It started in 2009 and today has 24 implementing sub projects, nine of which are associations of Person with Disabilities.

The CBC Health Services is responsible for the overall coordination of the programme. The SEEPD programme is funded by the Austrian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and Christian Blind Mission, CBM, Australia.