Africa-Press – Tanzania. IN a move to prevent road traffic accidents, Dar es Salaam Primary School children have requested authorities to reduce speed limit to 30km per hour near public areas like schools and hospitals.
The imposition of sharp humps, according to school children, will also help on the effectiveness of speed reduction in reducing child pedestrian injuries, especially in urban areas where schools are located in busy city locations.
Speaking during the marking of 6th Global Road Safety Week that was hosted by Automobile Association of Tanzania (AAT) at Olympio Primary School in Dar es Salaam, one of the pupils, Risper Mavura of Umoja wa Mataifa Primary School said that the move would minimize risks that children face when crossing the road to and from schools.
“Most of schools in urban areas are located in busy business locations, others near public highways, this endangers our lives, especially from motorcyclists, most of whom do not observe road rules,” said Mavura.
She warned that high speed can kill pupils and therefore the reduction of the speed would therefore save their lives.
Rukia Hassan of Muhimbili Primary School also suggested that children should be more educated on safe use of road signs and that motorcyclists should slow down to allow others to cross roads. Mr Steven Samwel of Muhimbili had it that some of the motorcyclists do not understand traffic laws and regulations, and that there is need for more training to drivers.
The AAT president Nizar Jivani said that children’s petition on reducing speed was very crucial to combat road injuries. He said that AAT and Federation International de Autombile (FIA) have been working closely to reduce fatal accidents and that Traffic Police is very grateful for the continued efforts to curb road accidents.
Welcoming the chief guest, AAT Chief Executive Officer, Yusuf Ghor said that the global road safety week, under theme ‘Streets For Life, Focus on Speed 30km/ Hr’ is held worldwide between 17th-23rd May to mark UN Global Week.
He urged the Traffic Police Chief, who is also the Executive Secretary of National Road Safety Council to help in the execution of 30km/Hr at public areas.
Earlier, Ms Rukia Gwando, who is an Academic Officer in Dar es Salaam region, said that the move by AAT and other stakeholders to rise an alarm on speed reduction was a good idea since some school children are involved in road injuries, mostly caused by bodaboda riders.
