As part of the 7e edition of National Road Safety Week, which takes place from August 7 to 13, 2023 in Bobo-Dioulasso, the municipal police are raising awareness among road users about wearing helmets. We made the observation on August 08, 2023.
As usual, the National Road Safety Office is organizing Road Safety Week this year under the theme: ” My helmet, my traveling companion ». To this end, the municipal police associates its image with that of ONASER for the awareness of citizens on the wearing of helmets. It is 7:30 a.m. when we arrive at the intersection of boulevard de la Révolution between the Good Samaritan and the El Hadj Wobgo building. The traffic could not be denser and everyone is going about their business. It is also an opportunity for the municipal police to make road users aware of the importance of wearing this protective tool, the helmet.
The light is red and in accordance with the Highway Code, motorcyclists and anyone traveling with a motorized vehicle stops. The policeman, with a slow and reassuring step, advances towards these people until the light turns green again. Helmet in hand, with serenity and out loud, he invites these fellow citizens to make the helmet their traveling companion. By lifting the helmet that is in his hand, he raises awareness. ” Everyone must have a helmet. It is better to wear your helmet than to go outside for treatment”, he said. And to continue in these terms, everyone must wear their helmet in traffic, whether it is the driver or the one being towed. There in the event of an accident, you protect your head and this allows you to avoid cranial trauma, ”he argues.
A little everywhere on the main arteries of the city, they are present and it is the same awareness scenario. Like them, we met ONASER agents at Tiéfo Amoro Square, raising awareness about wearing helmets as well. Equipped with a microphone and a loudspeaker, they raise awareness in French, Moré and Dioula to reach as many targets as possible. ” Over the past five years, Burkina Faso has recorded an average of 17,000 traffic accidents per year which cause around 1,000 deaths and more than 14,000 injuries” can we read on the leaflets they distribute. As a reminder, wearing a helmet is compulsory for anyone traveling with a two-wheeled vehicle in accordance with the law adopted in 2005, which is struggling to be applied.
Norrockom Edwige KAM
