English
Kinyarwanda
The Gerayo Amahoro road safety awareness campaign continued on Tuesday, December 13, across the country with focus on creating new Zebra Crossings, repainting faded ones and educating road users on pedestrian rights.
Police and partners engaged pedestrians and motorists on various roads in an effort to prevent the high rate of pedestrian fatalities.
Statistics indicate that out of 617 fatalities recorded on roads between January and November this year, the majority 234 are pedestrians. Other 183 fatalities involved cyclists while 150 are motorcyclists.
The majority accidents were caused by speeding, wrong maneuvers, violation of right of way, wrong overtaking and reckless road usage by pedestrians.
"We have pedestrians, who use the road recklessly or rather don't know how to use the road safely, and end up being knocked by motorists but also causing other accidents.
We also have motorists, who disregard the rights of pedestrians on Zebra Crossing, walkways leading to loss of lives," Commissioner of Police (CP) John Bosco Kabera, the RNP spokesperson, said.
These, he said, are some of the issues that Gerayo Amahoro campaign will look at to educate road users throughout the week to influence behavioral change and to save lives.
"During this week, Police and partners will aim to change the behavior of pedestrians when using the road, educate them on how safe to use the road but also to remind motorists of their reckless behaviors and violation of pedestrian rights, which lead to loss of lives and destruction of property," said CP Kabera.
During the awareness in Kigali, road users were shown how to operate the pedestrian-controlled traffic lights.
Across the country, pedestrians were urged not to use the phone or wear earphones when crossing the road, to use Zebra Crossings where they exist, alway walk on the left side of the road facing oncoming traffic, and to always look left and right before crossing to avoid being knocked by speeding or reckless motorists.
