Waka FIne to school
by Tevoh Ndingwan from cameroon
In Cameroon, road crashes cut short the lives of young people as they play, shop, ride, or even get an education. A huge chunk of road traffic victims in the country is largely made up of primary and secondary school students.
The project "Waka Fine To School" looked to integrate the Safe System Approach to provide safer routes to school for students, thus resulting in a reduction of injuries and fatalities in the area, which was predominantly used by students. The project utilised a bottom-up approach, which sought to adopt safer road infrastructure, safer speed limits, and safer road user behaviour for both non-motorised and motorised road users. The project also advocated for policy changes that could better protect youth.
The project mapped school zones, created risk maps, implemented the Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) methodology pioneered by the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), and led youth campaigns that used the slogan 'WAKA FINE to School'. The goal was to implement road safety infrastructure interventions, which resulted in the creation of school signs, enforcement of speed limits, and the maintenance of pedestrian crosswalks in 'risky locations'.
Photo from VOA News
ABOUT THE PROJECT LEAD
Tevoh holds a Master's Degree in civil engineering and works as a road safety engineer. He performs road safety audits and inspections in rural and urban areas in Cameroon while coordinating regional road safety public education programs and campaigns. Through his work, he can analyse and prepare safety reports on road safety.
He faced different road safety challenges while commuting to school and witnessed the various crash incidents his colleagues have suffered. His Master's study focused on highlighting safety issues and countermeasures that can be applied to school routes, universities, and public areas in major cities around Cameroon. His road safety research has fetched him an audience at the national and international levels. Aside from road safety, he is also honing skills to address mobility and climate problems.
IMPACT SNAPSHOTS
Educated over 500 school children in Yaoundé on road risks and safety behaviours through capacity building, peer-to-peer training, and road safety clubs.
Assessed 8 school zones to identify high-risk locations and successfully implemented infrastructure countermeasures at one location.
Mapped and star-rated school journeys while training student engineers in iRAP methodology.
Conducted advocacy meetings with school managers and municipal authorities to secure the implementation of school zones and improve law enforcement.
