A road safety campaign for two wheelers was launched this afternoon by the Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr. Alan Ganoo, during a ceremony held in Port-Louis.
The campaign which will be disseminated on television, radio and social media, will kickstart on the 15 December 2021, and will span for three weeks includes video and audio materials as well as flyers. On the same occasion, high visibility vests sponsored by the SICOM Ltd were handed to various stakeholders.
In his address on the occasion, Minister Alan Ganoo reiterated Government’s continuous efforts to sensitise the public as regards road safety, and underlined that this campaign is yet another addition to the panoply of measures and sensitisation campaigns elaborated to this end.
While highlighting that the number of road fatalities has decreased in the country, he deplored that the death of one person is one too many, specially of young road users. The Minister indicated that a total of 56 motorcyclists and passengers died in 2019 and 62 in 2020, whilst so far for this year, some 53 motorcyclists et 7 passengers have lost their lives in road accidents.
Taking into consideration the increasing number of road accidents in Mauritius and their associated economic cost that is estimated at Rs 6 billion, my Ministry has come up with this campaign to protect out most vulnerable road users, that is, two-wheelers, stated Mr. Alan Ganoo.
The aim, he emphasised, is to sensitise two-wheelers about road safety precautions that need to be taken to ensure their own security. He dwelt on the different types of dangers that may cause road accidents, and urged motorcyclists to adopt a defensive driving approach as well as to abide to road traffic regulations. The Minister also underlined the crucial importance for motorcyclists to wear the proper gear, including helmets and high visibility vests, gloves and boots to ensure their security.
Minister Ganoo also cautioned that those motorcyclists not conforming to road traffic rules will be liable to sanctions and reminded them to have their vehicle registered at the National Land Transport Authority by the 31 December 2021.
On that note, he expressed gratitude to SICOM Ltd as well as all other stakeholders for their contribution in the Ministry’s sensitisation campaign.
As for the Senior Executive – Customer Experience of SICOM Ltd, Mr. Atma Beeharry, he underlined that SICOM Ltd as a responsible institution, is proud to join this laudable initiative of the Ministry to heighten public awareness as regards the need for two-wheelers to be always visible on the road by wearing a high visibility vest. In a spirit of solidarity, we did not hesitate to provide support for this endeavour, by contributing with the sponsorship of 1000 high visibility vests, he added.
