Police have started a nationwide road safety awareness programme that aimed at reducing road accidents in the country.

The programme comes amid a sharp rise in road accidents and a day after two famous journalists and a health worker died in a tragic road accident in Jatta Soma. 

However, the police believed the awareness programme which target school students and their teachers and community people will help to drastically reduce road accidents in the country. 

The campaign kicked off in Lower River Region, an area that has seen an increase in road accident. 

“In a bid to inculcate road safety issues and spread awareness about traffic safety among students, police in the Lower River Region organised a road safety and traffic awareness programme at the Northerdamus Basic Cycle School in Jarra.

“The event was presided over by the commissioner of Police in LRR Lamin Banda joined by the Chief of Operations CSP Abou Ceessay and Jarra Soma Station Officer ASP Kemo Sanneh,” the police said in a statement.

“Sessions which targeted over 300 students and a dozen of teachers from the Northerdamus Basic Cycle School focus on road safety awareness and techniques, practical skills in safe crossing, as well as safe maneuvering of busy traffic. 

Participants were also exposed to audiovisual lessons as well as practical demonstrations of road safety skills. The initiative which commences today Tuesday January 18th 2022, is aimed at reducing the rate of accidents and also to facilitate a sustainable safe environment for school going children,” the statement added.”

“The participation of school teachers is critical as they will help educate children and wider society about road safety and the value of life as children are the future of the country. 

“The training also took a form of demonstrative approaches as students went out for demonstrations and simulation activities along the highway for a mastery of skills and knowledge acquired during sessions.” 

Reporting by Adama Makasuba