English
Kinyarwanda
Gerayo Amahoro road safety campaign was on Tuesday, May 28, conducted across different roads in City of Kigali and other parts of the country.
The continuous awareness aims to influence behavioral change and to instill the culture of responsiveness on safer road usage.
It has been observed that the majority motorists respect traffic rules because it's stipulated by law disregarding their responsibility to put safety first, thus causing accidents, loss of lives, destruction of property and public infrastructure in particular.
By educating motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and passengers on individual responsibility to use the road safely, Rwanda National Police (RNP) also breaks the reckless and risky behaviors of respecting traffic rules and regulations by law but rather a choice and ultimately make road safety a culture.
Police officers, therefore, engage different categories of road users, from drivers, taxi-moto operators, commercial cyclists to pedestrians and passengers on careless behaviours that contribute to road carnage, as well as safer road safety practices that should define every category of road users.
At least 49% of accidents recorded between January and April this year were either caused or involved vehicles, 43% were taxi-moto operators, 7.6% cyclists while pedestrians accounted for 0.4%.
The vast majority of these fatal and serious accidents were due to human behaviors like speeding, distracted driving such as use of phone, wrong or reckless overtaking, bad maneuvers as well as mechanical faults.
ROAD SAFETY TIPS
PEDESTRIANS
Always walk on the left side of the road facing oncoming traffic
Always cross on pedestrian crosswalks, look left and right, wait for vehicles to stop, cross briskly but don’t run
Avoid crossing the roads while using your phone or wearing earphones
DRIVERS
-Avoid using your phone while driving
-Don’t drink and drive
-Obey speed limits
-Respect pedestrian’s rights
-Always wear your seatbelt
-Regularly get your vehicle inspected
-Don’t let children stand in the car while you are driving
-Don’t leave children in the car alone
MOTORCYCLISTS
-Always wear a helmet and also give one to your passenger
-Respect speed limits
-Avoid bad maneuvers while driving
-Don’t use your phone while riding you bike.
PASSENGERS
-Speak up when your driver is engaging in risky behavior.
-Avoid being distracted on your phone while riding on a motorbike.
-Don’t encourage your driver to over speed because of your personal reasons.
