the 7e edition of the National Road Safety Week is held in Bobo-Dioulasso from August 7 to 13, 2023. On the occasion, several activities are on the program such as awareness sessions on road safety, road check actions on the non wearing a helmet and seat belt, using the telephone in traffic and speeding. That’s all, because no awareness session is too much. As we go, we face too many cases of incivility in circulation. Needless to say, this is an act that increases the risk of an accident. In this dynamic, the reckless road user not only puts his life in danger, but also that of others. Notorious in this practice are mostly street stuntmen who apparently have blind faith in their machine, until they realize it’s not that reliable. A mechanical breakdown happened so quickly. Alongside this, there are indeed speeding, manipulation of mobile phones in circulation and failure to wear a helmet. The theme of this edition of Road Safety Week focuses on the latter, which is: “My helmet, my traveling companion”. It is clear that the helmet is an element very neglected by users of two wheels in Burkina. Several reasons are given for rejecting it. Some say they have trouble breathing when they wear the helmet, others however talk about the reduction in their field of vision. Either way, they don’t want to wear it. However, it is an element that can concretely prevent head injuries in the event of a traffic accident. Mentalities need to change and this inevitably involves raising awareness. Apart from all this, it is advisable to have your means of transport regularly reviewed, whether it is two or four wheels. In this regard, we look out of the corner of the eye at the owners of jumbo jets who are the cause of serious accidents, often fatal, very often due to a technical failure, and who sometimes do not have a technical visit to day. Above all, you have to be tolerant in traffic. Because the number of accidents is not negligible. Burkina Faso has indeed recorded 1,150 deaths and 15,384 injuries in 26,686 cases of accidents recorded in 2022, according to government figures, reveals the agencyecofin site. According to this same site, in 2020, the 20,871 reported accidents killed 1,060 people and injured 13,763 others. In 2021, there were 950 deaths for 18,500 cases of accidents recorded from January to the end of November. The main causes, according to experts, are among others speeding, drunk driving, recklessness, non-compliance with the highway code, etc. According to official data, 77.9% of road accidents in Burkina are due to the human factor, while 13.8% of cases are attributable to mechanical defects in vehicles and 2.1% to the state of the road. .
Abdoul-Karim Etienne SANON
