Rwanda National Police

In line with Gerayo Amahoro, a year-long national road safety campaign, Rwanda National Police (RNP) in partnership with the union of driving schools in Rwanda (ANAPAER) and National Children Council (NCC), on Friday, sensitized students and their teachers on road safety in different primary and secondary schools across the country.

The campaign was conducted in over 30 schools across the country.

Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Marie-Gorette Umutesi, the Police spokesperson for the City of Kigali told students of Excella School that their lives matter and RNP is doing everything possible to prevent accidents and loss of young lives, but added that it all starts with an individual "taking safety first."

“You are young and the future of our country. Road accidents are one of the main causes of death for the young generation. Strive to know safer ways of using the road and respect traffic rules and regulations to protect your lives and those of others,” CIP Umutesi told the students.

Students were urged to exhibit discipline on road and taught the meaning of various traffic signposts in an effort to help them develop positive attitudes and avoid accidents.

Teachers were also urged to regularly remind their students on the proper and safer ways of using the road, both as pedestrians and passengers.

“Always walk on the left side of the road facing arriving traffic, cross the road where there are crosswalks. Before you cross the road, stop and look right, left, right and make sure there is no car approaching, be fast when crossing but don't run," CIP Umutesi said.

"When in the car, don’t stand, lean on the door or put you head and arms out of the car window. Never play on road and avoid any distractions that may lead to accidents... you will be safe,” she emphasized.

Students, teacher speak out

Juuko Robert, a teacher at Excella School lauded RNP for educating their students how to use the road or move in the car safely.

“We are so privileged to have police officers today teaching us and students, because there are so many things we ignore or don't know when using the road but now at least they have found some lights on them. I am so grateful; I have even urged my students to share the message to those who have not attended this session. To schools, i hope this campaign will be fruitful,” Juuko said.

“We have experienced some accidents that involved our students but they are not too much because many of them use school buses. We have few cases of motorcycle injuries, we hope to no longer experience accident cases because the campaign opened our eyes,” he added.

Ornella Adel Ntaganda, a senior six student at Excella School said that the campaign is important for their lives as they will start using road properly and save their lives.

“Today, we got an important lecture on road safety, some information we acquired like how to cross the road using crosswalks or where they don't exist, walking on the left side of the road especially on pavement; these are important safety tips many people don't know or take lightly," Ntaganda said.

"I urge my fellow students and other pedestrians to follow these road safety instructions, that way the rate of accidents will be reduced,” he added.

The two-month campaign in schools targets 2, 379 primary and 1, 647 secondary schools across the country to educate students the meaning of traffic signs and inculcate good road use behavior amongst young people so as to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries among the young people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) 2018 report indicates that road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for children aged 5-14. Children also account for 21 percent of all road accidents-related deaths worldwide.

Road traffic accidents are also the major cause of mortality among people aged 15–29 years in Africa, according to the report.

The year-long Gerayo Amahoro (arrive safely) campaign is meant to develop and implement sustainable road safety strategies and programmes, increase road safety awareness towards mindset change to prevent road carnage.