Senegal traffic fatalities indicative of problem that spans continent

Senegal's roads pose problems for those who are physically challenged. [VOA]

Christopher Kost, the Africa Program Director at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, an urban planning nonprofit, says that in order to improve road safety, African countries need to shift public transportation business models.

"In so many African countries, we're still operating with a target system where driver incomes are directly related to the number of people they carry. And as a result, they rush as fast as possible to the destination, and that leads to a lot of the road safety challenges that we have," he said.

Switching to a salary system would incentivize drivers to drive safely instead of cramming their buses full and speeding to their destinations, Kost said.

Carolyne Mimano, a partnerships manager also with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, says public transport could be further improved by limiting the age of buses, increasing bus inspections, and capping driver hours.

Within cities, governments have many options to improve safety. African city streets are shared by cars, pedestrians, cyclists, street vendors and even horse carts, yet planning efforts focus only on vehicles, Mimano said.

On the left, teenagers on inline skates can be seen clinging to buses while on the right is a bus loaded with cargo and farm animals. [VOA]

Pedestrians in Africa represent 40% of all road traffic deaths, compared to 23% globally, according to the WHO.

"We still have that car centric approach to transport planning," Mimano said. "Even with road crashes, we think that the solution is to expand the road. And that doesn't really solve the problem. What actually happens is people speed more."

Improvement is possible. Mimano points to Rwanda's capital, Kigali, which has speed cameras and salaried bus drivers, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which has elevated pedestrian crosswalks, wide sidewalks, and 21 kilometers of dedicated bus lanes.

"Africa and its development partners must prioritize road safety in their national budgets at a level that is commensurate to the burden and develop and implement national road safety programs in a way that engages all of the government including health, transport, education, finance and trade sectors," said Nneka Henry, the head of the United Nations Road Safety Fund.

Senegal sees an average of 745 road fatalities per year, with most deadly accidents occurring at night, according to Senegal's information bureau.