Ouagadougou, (AIB)-More than 45 years after the first texts making the wearing of helmets compulsory, awareness has shown its limits, regretted Tuesday the Minister of Road Safety, Roland Somda, now advocating repression to limit the frequency and severity of traffic accidents among two and three wheelers.

“We have chosen to focus on raising awareness because we believe that this is the best way to get the population to join. (But) We have noted, looking at the statistics, that this route is starting to show its limits,” indicated the Minister in charge of Road Safety, Roland Somda.

The minister responded Tuesday at the Transitional National Assembly to an oral question with debate from the honorable deputy Assita Romaine Benedicte Baïlou.

According to Roland Somda, the statistics on accident cases are “very alarming”. It is therefore necessary to “still insist on awareness-raising, but consider in the medium term other stronger measures, namely those of repression, to bring offenders to comply with what has been established for so many years”, he pointed out.

For him, the first texts concerning the wearing of helmets date from 1978. “So these texts have existed for 45 years without really knowing any implementing measures,” he regretted.

The minister in charge of road safety affirmed that his department has done a lot in terms of raising awareness on the wearing of helmets, in particular by integrating the teaching of the highway code in primary and post-primary establishments.

As a reminder, statistical data on traffic accidents established by the police and the national gendarmerie reveal that in 2022, there were 24,686 cases of accidents recorded, with 1,150 killed and 15,384 injured. In the first half of 2023, 11,717 accidents were recorded with 7,335 injured and 471 killed.

According to Minister Roland Somda, the frequency and severity of traffic accidents are higher for users of mopeds, mopeds and motorcycles.

Source: Burkina Information Agency