It is no news that school children are more prone to road accident due to their negligence and ignorance. Some have bad road-crossing habits like crossing with their hands in the pockets, walking slowly, and chatting while crossing the road, thus leading to accidents. Yet, drivers also have their share of the blame.
Some don’t respect the zebra crossing even when they see students who have already stepped into that zone. According to driving rules, once a pedestrian steps on the zebra crossing, the driver must slow down for the pedestrian to cross.
To ensure the safety of pupils and students during back-to-school, police, road safety organisations and security men in some schools have taken the initiative to supervise road-crossing in the morning and at closing hours.
In front of Lycée Bilingue Bonaberi situated at the Old Road, Lycée d’Akwa and Alfred Saker, and Lycée Joss among others, police have taken charge while road safety organisations and school staff lift “Stop” signboards to vehicles to allow groups of school children to cross the road.
The road-crossing exercise will be easier for some schools in the region that benefited from a week-long road safety campaign organised by the Ligue Nationale Contre l’Insécurité Routière et de Défense des Droits des Victimes, Association Soutien à la Sécurité de Usagers de la Route – ASSURC and a French-based NGO, AfricaFrance Solidaire.
