Atmosphere of Accidents along the Douala-Yaounde National Road in Cameroon: Hoofmarks, Drivers, Challenges and Proactive Options

Abstract

Road transport and safety is a thorny problem in the world today following the occurrence, recrudescence and outcomes of accidents in our society. These accidents are a public health hazard and vector of underdevelopment in developing countries amongst which is Cameroon. According to the World Health Organisation, road accidents ranked 3rd in position among the leading causes of mortality in the world and caused approximately 1.2 million deaths with 50 million people injured worldwide. The frequency of accidents along National Road 3 linking Douala (the economic hub of the CEMAC region) and Yaounde (the political Capital of Cameroon) remains a thorny problem. This is because 50 % of accidents in the Southern part of Cameroon occur along this stretch of the triangle of death necessitating sustainable strategies to effectively curb the situation. Efforts both structural and non-structural have been put in place over decades by the Cameroon government, civil society organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations, local communities, and other actors to contain the situation without success. This is because the measures often target road users, the state of vehicles and repair of existing roads. Along National Road 3, the poor state of the road in combination with other risk factors has been identified as prime factors that sustain accidents. This paper argues that the frequency of accidents is high, impacts on man and property enormous and the solutions to solve the problem ineffective. The methodology used for data production exploits primary and secondary sources of data from works on road transport in Cameroon, Africa and the world to assess the dynamics, outcomes, challenges and options for road accidents control on the study site. These sources integrate field surveys, administration of questionnaires, literature review and grey data sources for their findings. The results show that until recent on some roads little attention has been paid on proactive solutions visible in other countries to combat road accidents. These are the creation of multi lanes to reduce contact, investment on alternative transport modes and road modernisation to decongest existing roads. How this innovation to curb road carnage redresses the problem in question is also a focus of this paper.