In this feature of Brian’s Column, we take a look at young people’s actions on the road. Sometimes youth who are advocating for road safety and better prospects in life are clouded by young people who act up and give them a bad name. Brian explains that if we want to move forward in life, young people should not be their own enemy but rather work together to educate each other.
Hello (English), bonjour (French), sasa (Kiswahili), ah salaam laikum (Arabic)…*black-out*..sorry, I can only stop right there…but yes…hope you superstars are doing just fine and have been safe! It is again that very hour your mummy warned you about during your kindergarten days, ‘Look right, then left, look right again, and if it is safe, cross the road, be good at school’ hahaha…ladies and gentlemen, our road safety update from Africa returns!
In the previous article which you can find here (in case you missed it)…I shared with you superstars how we young people are in a hurry to acquire driving permits and the hassle we go through. We analysed the fact that the public policy on driving permits is not healthy and neither is it being implemented in very rare cases where it exists! And now….
In Africa, road infrastructure developments remains a big challenge to road safety.
Last Tuesday, I don’t know what you guys were doing, but I jumped onto a bus and was heading to the capital of Uganda to meet some of our Danish-Uganda Red Cross International Youth Group members. On the bus, there were 3 seats left. How lucky I was, I clung onto the first seat I had. Fortunately I got there early, because the next bus would be only loading after 30 minutes. So after paying the bus conductor he issued me my receipt. I hardly sat down in my seat when a bunch of around 8 cool dudes forced their way passed the conductor into the bus. They started yelling on top of their lungs using a language which many of us wouldn’t approve. Apparently, the dudes were arguing with the conductor who was repeatedly making himself very clear that he would only allow 2 of them on the bus! The dudes pleaded and pleaded.
Young people in Uganda stepping up to make a change – International Federation of the Red Cross
As worried passengers, we sought to investigate what on earth was going on, why were we waiting and why was the bus taking so long to drive off. Only to be informed, there was some ‘sort-of-scuffle’ taking place. I dragged myself to the entrance of the bus, only to find the heated debate of which young people were using force, all forms of violence (verbal and non verbal) to force themselves into the bus. #sad
Now, dear superstars, we know that road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among young people. So people who are standing in vehicles such as buses or occupying vehicles without seatbelts have an 80% chance of being injured than those who aren’t (WHO, 2010).
If we want young people to be discipinced it is crucial that they are given the skills and knowledge to make informed choices.
When it comes to young people, our voices are being heard everywhere right?! No? If you think am kidding, look out for the news, we ‘young people’ are in the news every where. We are apparently all ‘rioters’, ‘hoodlums’ and ‘generally bad people’. You and I know that this is not the case, it is mainly a minority that spoil it for those who just want to live a happy and prosperous life. However, while we are doing all this advocacy and demanding for better things, demanding for a better way of life and asking for safer roads we must remember not to be enemies of ourselves. Young people, even those who give other young people a bad name have to be accountable to ourselves.
Those of us that know about road safety, that have the skills and knowledge should never forget or neglect to implement it everyday. This also transfers to other aspects of life, to be a safe courteous road user, we need to also respect one another, respect life and work together where we can. In the case that I witnessed, we are forcing public service providers who are road users, such as bus drivers to break the rules and the law in order to give in to us. That driver is probably driving an unsafe bus anyway and it was clear that is was over capacity. Laws are not just there to make our lives miserable, they are often (or often should be) a reflection of society’s stances on issues, to keep us safe and in the case of road safety, to forgive human error and prohibit bad road behaviour.
Just like my father (not really) said this in his address to the youth ‘”If you are not disciplined, you can never win our confidence” #NelsonMandela
As a global youth movement for road safety, we believe in making informed decisions but this informed stance comes when young people are given the right information, empowered with the tools to make a difference and also live in a world were decisions are made for the benefit of keeping young people safe on the road. Lets abide by the law, and be safe!