On April 19, the Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Masséna Ngalle Bibehe, issued a note informing about the launch of a competitive examination to train 240 road safety experts. Specifically, 80 people will be trained as driving license and road safety delegates while 160 will be trained as driving license and road safety inspectors. The competition, scheduled for July 3, is open to Cameroonians of both sexes aged between 18 and 32 who hold a baccalauréat. Applications are expected by June 4.

In Cameroon, road accidents are the second leading cause of death, after malaria. Between 2011 and 2017, the country recorded 21,049 road accidents resulting in 7,203 deaths, according to the study on the impact of road safety measures (commissioned by the Ministry of Transport) published last February.

According to the study, overspeeding (35%) is the main cause of those accidents. The next causes are the state of the vehicles (17%), drunk driving (10.5%), road conditions (10%), poor overtaking (7%), and others (10%).

Last year, the Minister of Transport reported that the number of deaths in road accidents has dropped to 937 in 2019 (against 1,588 in 2011 and 1,091 in 2015). At the time, Jean Ernest Masséna Ngalle Bibehe explained that this decrease was due to the enhancement of technical inspection procedures, the intensification of road accident prevention campaigns as well as the renewal of road signs.

P.N.N.