An Open Letter to The Director of Traffic, Juba City, South Sudan
By Noble Leek Goi, Bor, South Sudan
Thursday, 6 July 2023 (PW) — Greetings to you and your team. I am pleased with the little great work your men in uniforms are doing on the roads within Juba City to control motor accidents.
Nevertheless, there are some accidents that are supposed to be prevented from happening, but due to either ignorance or negligence, those accidents do happen.
Referring to the photo above, which I took on my way to work, it is very unfortunate for our able traffic police to see a motorcycle overloaded with a total of 6 lives (5 school’s kids of tender age and the cyclist) who are citizens of South Sudan and might be future voters of SPLM party, and traffic police did nothing about it. This is not the first time to see a motorcycle overloaded with school kids, it is a routine here in Juba.
Director, if that motorcycle got involved in an accident with 5 kids on board (God forbid), I know the parents of the kids can be blamed for risking their children’s lives on a motorcycle. However, the parents might have done that out of economic frustration in the country where they can’t afford to pay for a school bus to pick up and drop their kids at school, hence compromising the lives of their children on the cheaper mean of transport (motorcycles).
However, our traffic police can as well be blamed for allowing such a huge number of people to be carried on a motorcycle regardless of the volume they occupied. The decision of the parents to have cheap transport for their kids to school due to the economic meltdown in the country can’t be an excuse for the traffic police to compromise the traffic rules and regulations.
Additionally, in Juba city, I have never seen traffic signs of school children crossing or zebra crossing. In case they had skipped my sight, and they are there, then they are dropped in an Ocean. In many schools and hospitals, including the busiest Juba Teaching Hospital, no traffic signs can direct drivers to slow down and give way to pedestrians.
The choice of giving way to pedestrians depends on the willingness of a driver, which shouldn’t be the case. Most of the drivers are always unwilling to give way, and once a pedestrian impatiently tries to cross, he/she can get knocked.
On top of that, there are no speed humps and bumps along many roads within the city, especially places where there is traffic congestion and small areas where pedestrians and traffic share space more equally.
In conclusion, the lack of enforcement of traffic rules/regulations and traffic signs on many roads accelerated the rate of accidents within the city.
Accidents can’t be prevented but can be reduced or controlled.
Recommendations.
1). The directorate of traffic should issue an order banning the carrying of more than one person on a motorcycle for road safety measures.
2). The directorate of traffic, in collaboration with the Ministry of Road and Bridges, should implement the installation of vital traffic signs for zebra crossings, children crossing, hospitals, etc, at key places to ease the crossing of pedestrians.
3). The directorate of traffic, in collaboration with the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, should implement the installation of bumps and humps to reduce speed on most busy roads.
The author, Noble Leek Goi, is a South Sudanese Civil and Structural Engineer who also writes opinion pieces. You can reach him by email at nobleleekgoi@gmail.com.
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