Senegal: 20 New Rules to Avoid Another Deadly Road Crash in Senegal

Lesoleil.sn
The accident involving two buses led to 40 deaths.
11 January 2023
allAfrica.com

Cape Town — The interministerial council on road safety, established after the bus accident which left 40 people dead, has announced several measures to keep the roads safe.

According to Prime Minister Amadou Ba, these measures "...are intended to be a break that could be described as structured, because all the stakeholders have been involved in the reflection", reports  Sud Quotidien .

President Macky Sall had established the council as he announced three days of mourning for victims of the accident.

The measures include the banning of public transport vehicles on "interurban roads" from 11pm, limiting the years public transport and goods vehicles are allowed to operate, drafting a law to ban importing second-hand tyres, and enforcing a speed limit of 90km/h for public and goods vehicles.

20 Measures for Road Safety

1- the Ministry of the Armed Forces in relation with the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry in charge of Transport, to submit to the Government within 15 days, a draft decree, establishing a multi-sectoral autonomous structure , headed by a senior officer, under the authority of the Minister of Transport and responsible for the rigorous application of the provisions of the Highway Code;

2- the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Transport, to take within 72 hours an inter-ministerial order prohibiting the circulation of public passenger transport vehicles on interurban roads between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. and recalling the timetables for movement of goods transport vehicles in Dakar;

3- the Ministry in charge of Land Transport to issue, within 72 hours, an order limiting the duration of operation to 10 years for vehicles transporting people to 15 years for vehicles transporting goods;

4- the Ministry in charge of Finance, the Ministry in charge of the Economy, the Ministry in charge of Transport and the Ministry in charge of Trade to submit to the Government, within 15 days, a plan for accelerating the implementation of the fleet modernization and renewal program.

This program will be a priority of the Government included in the PAP-3 of the PSE and whose financing will be fully mobilized. Already, part of the subsidy initially intended for the transport sector will be allocated to the renewal of the fleet of transport vehicles;

5- the Ministry in charge of Finance, the Ministry in charge of Transport and the Ministry in charge of Trade to submit to the Government, within 15 days, a draft text prohibiting the import of used tires (second-hand tires);

6- the Ministry in charge of Land Transport to take a measure making compulsory the free passage of technical control in Dakar for all vehicles transporting people and goods and suspending for a period of 3 months the technical inspections of private vehicles;

7- the Ministry in charge of Finance and the Minister in charge of Land Transport should open, as soon as possible, technical control centers in the regions;

8- the Ministry in charge of Land Transport, to take the necessary measures to make it compulsory to seal the speedometers of vehicles transporting people and goods at 90 km/hour;

9- the Ministry in charge of Land Transport, to issue an order, within 72 hours, prohibiting any transformation of vehicles intended for the transport of goods into passenger transport vehicles;

10- the Ministry in charge of Land Transport, to issue, within 72 hours, an order prohibiting any transformation of vehicles aimed at increasing the seats for passengers or creating additional luggage racks;

11- the Ministry in charge of Land Transport to issue, within 72 hours, an order prohibiting the installation and use of luggage racks, and prescribing the dismantling of those already attached to passenger transport vehicles;

12- the Ministry in charge of Land Transport in conjunction with the Ministry in charge of Trade, to take an act, within 72 hours, revising the conditions for granting transport approval as well as the technical specifications of the vehicles intended for the transport of people and goods;

13- the Ministry in charge of Land Transport, to submit to the Government, within 72 hours, revising the minimum age for obtaining a driving license for urban and interurban passenger transport vehicles to 25 years and 23 years for intercity freight vehicles;

14- the Ministry in charge of Land Transport, the Ministry of Health, to propose, as soon as possible, the terms of greater involvement of the health services in the assessment of the physical abilities to drive for the delivery and renewal of driving licenses;

15- the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance to submit, as soon as possible, to the Government a project for the dematerialization of the payment of fines and penalties related to traffic offences;

16- the Ministry in charge of Land Transport to submit to the Government a regulatory act making the wearing of helmets compulsory for all drivers and passengers of 2-wheeled vehicles;

17- the Ministry in charge of Land Transport and the Ministry in charge of Labor to strengthen the control of compliance with the provisions of the Labor Code (contract in good and due form and payment of social security contributions) by carriers;

18- the Ministry of Finance and Budget, the Ministry in charge of Transport to take the necessary measures to strengthen the capacities of the Road Safety Agency with a view to accelerating its deployment, in particular the creation of a training school and advanced training in the professions of drivers of public transport vehicles;

19- the Ministry of Finance and Budget, the Ministry in charge of the Economy, the Ministry in charge of Transport to submit to the government, within 15 days, a plan to strengthen national public transport companies, to increase , in particular, their capacities;

20- the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry in charge of Transport, the Ministry in charge of Urban Planning, to set up a pound in the jurisdiction of each department and to set up rest areas at the entrance to large agglomerations ;

21- the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Health, to strengthen the emergency and medical assistance system for the care of victims of road accidents;

22- the Higher Council for Road Safety and Education will be operationalized and will follow up on the recommendations.

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