MONROVIA – The Inspector-General of the Liberia National Police (LNP), Patrick Sudue has outlined a series of steps being taken by the LNP to curb the growing wave of road accidents across the country.
According to him, the LNP has held a series of educational workshops and programs to sensitize truck drivers on steps that need to be taken to curtail road accidents.
He pointed out that these truck drivers have been prioritized because they have been involved in most of the road fatalities.
IG Sudue made these comments when he spoke with the Swedish Ambassador accredited near Monrovia, Madam Ingrid Wetterqvist on the eve of the 3rd Road Safety Conference.
He emphasized that truck drivers have been educated on the danger associated with abandoning their faulted vehicles in the traffic.
He added that these truck drivers have been requested to always have “cones or triangles” to alert other road users about a break-down of their vehicle.
IG Sudue maintained that truck drivers were also advised to keep their hazard or “yellow lights” on, whenever there is a breakdown.
“We started off with educational workshops and program with truck drivers because we found high fatalities reported in cases involving truckers. One such workshop is managing the truck when there is a breakdown. This is because, truck drivers would usually abandon the truck in the middle of the road when there’s a breakdown, to return the next day”.
“In many instances, this leads to a road accident. We have educated them on actions that need to be taken to prevent accidents such as placing ‘Cones’ and ‘Triangles’ a safe distance away from the broken-down vehicles, to alert other road users of its existence. In addition, the truckers were also advised to keep their hazards (yellow lights) on”.
When quizzed about his expectations on the Global Traffic Security Conference, the LNP Inspector-General expressed the hope that technocrats of the sector will interact with various global participants to learn about mechanisms that have been put into place in their respective countries to curtail road accident.
He indicated that with the knowledge gained on road safety management, the team of the LNP will bring back new ideas that will be inculcated into new programs at the entity.
Meanwhile, Inspector General Sudue has pledged that the LNP will continue to work to reduce the high rate of accident fatalities in the country.
He, however, urged drivers to desist from talking in alcoholic beverages and driving.
“Drive safely, because the life you will save may be your own or that of your loved one. Remember, your safety is our concern and we are definitely fighting to reduce the high number of accident fatalities considering the number of vehicles that ply our roads. In doing so, the public has to cooperate with us. So, if you’re drunk, don’t drive! If you’re driving, don’t drink!”