At Int’l Level Crossing Awareness Day: CAMRAIL sensitises Yaounde population on safety rules at level crossings.

The International Level Crossing Awareness Day, which is in its 16th editions this year, was celebrated under the slogan: “Beware of trains. Life can change in a split second”. 

To mark the event, CAMRAIL and its partners, including SECUROUTE, went to the field in Yaounde I Subdivision, where they sensitised commercial motorbike riders, motorists, pedestrians and the general public on rules that should be respected and measures to be taken while at level crossings.

Level crossing, it should be noted, is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel.

At the office of the Association of Commercial Motorbike Riders of Yaounde I Subdivision, the motorbike riders came out in their numbers. They were drilled by the CAMRAIL and SECUROUTE staff on the various rules they should follow and measures they should take while at level crossings. This, the motorbike riders were told, is to prevent accidents and loss of lives at level crossings.

Motorbike riders hail CAMRAIL

Speaking to the press, the President of the Association of Commercial Motorbike Riders of Yaounde I Subdivision, Alhadji Aboubakar, thanked CAMRAIL and its partner, SECUROUTE, for the sensitisation campaign.

“We have had exchanges, and I believe that all that is left for us to do is to go back and pass the message to our colleagues motorbike riders, because the real problem is with us. We motorbike riders and other road users should respect safety rules at level crossings,” he said. 

He regretted that: “When we are on our motorbikes, we are in haste; that has to change. Initiatives and meetings like this help us and will ensure that in the coming years or days, from our sensitisation campaigns, commercial motorbike riders will have learned and have another way of respecting the Highway Code and safety rules at level crossings”.

Aboubakar expressed satisfaction at the sensitisation campaign, indicating that: “The group of commercial motorbike riders present here today are all ambassadors for this cause. We selected leaders from over 20 different zones so they will go back to their respective zones and continue the campaign with their peers”.

“I will personally ensure that I reconvene the team of leaders, because they are the delegates and each delegate has about 20 to 50 motorbike riders in their zone. I assure that things change,” he avowed.

The sensitisation campaign with the commercial motorbike riders also featured a quiz during which some of the bikers who answered questions positively won prizes. CAMRAIL officials also donated reflective jackets to the motorbike riders to wear in order to ensure their safety.

The campaign was then taken to a level crossing at Etoudi Abattoir, where the CAMRAIL and SECUROUTE staff sensitised motorists, pedestrians and the general public. Flyers carrying messages on safety measures at level crossings were distributed to the public.   

CAMRAIL getting closer to road users 

Helene-Michele Ndougsa Mbang, representative of occupational safety and prevention department at the safety management coordination of CAMRAIL, talking to the press, said: “At CAMRAIL, we have a database that permits us count all security incidents that we register and we have another database particularly for level crossing”.

“As for preventive measures, CAMRAIL has collaborated with the International Union of Railways, UIC, to organise this sensitisation campaign that permits us to get closer to road users, and to continue proximity sensitisation as we try to control accidents and incidents registered at level crossings,” she said.

Ndougsa Mbang added that: “It should be noted that the campaigns we are conducting today are not taking place solely in Yaounde. This campaign is taking place in other towns, including Ngaoundere, Belabo and Douala, where teams have also been mobilised”.

“This year, we focused on commercial motorbike riders because the theme is about vulnerable people: motorbike riders, cyclists and even pedestrians because level crossings are not only crossed by vehicles. We think that these are people who don’t really know the Highway Code; so it’s important to make them aware of it. In our statistics, we realised that more than half of accidents involve people on two wheels, because they always think that the train is going to slow down, but unfortunately the train doesn’t slow down,” she added.

She noted that the sensitisation campaigns are yielding fruits.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3155 of Monday July 01, 2024