With recent fatality happening to UNMIL personnel, as Marilena’s sharing on her posting, allow me also to share you the below pictures taken 2 days ago and put as an exhibit at UNMIL Vehicle Entrance gate at the UNMIL Headquarters building at Pan African Plaza, Sinkor – Monrovia.

It is a sudden loss for us and a strong reminder that safety in driving, especially when one is on mission assignment is paramount. The facts below I found them to be true:

FACT: Speed is a factor in 75% of accidents on our roads.

FACT: The faster you go, the harder you hit.

FACT: Speeding is more of a risk than a time saver. On a 10km journey, you would save a mere 46 seconds by increasing your average speed from 60km/h to 65km/h, but in doing so you double your chances of being involved in a crash.

The severity of a crash increases with speed. If you speed you might not be able to stop. With a reaction time of one second, it will take the average driver driving at 110km/h about 90m to come to a stop on a dry surface.

If the driver encounters a hazard such as a pedestrian at a distance, of say, 60m ahead, the car will hit the pedestrian at an impact speed of 80km/h.

At that speed there is a 100 percent chance that the pedestrian will be killed. If the driver were driving at 100km/h instead of 110, the collision speed would be 60km/h and the chances of the pedestrian being killed would be reduced to 70 percent.

Had this driver been driving at 90km/h, the collision speed would have been 30km/h and the chance of death for the pedestrian would be educed further still, to approximately 7%.

This is why SPEED KILLS and why speed is one of the major focuses in the BE ALERT AND LIMIT SPEED campaign this year.

Another crucial issue of car accidents involving mission’s staff is cell-phon driving. According to reports and statistics, the use of mobile phones while driving is one of the main causes of crashes, accidents and collisions worldwide. While talking on phone, the driver is obviously distracted and not able to fully concentrate on driving. It is a matter of just few seconds when a driver looses concentration and runs into a serious accident. Using a mobile phone while on the steering wheel is risky not only for the person who is driving the vehicle but also for the other people in the car and on the road.

Drivers who use a mobile phone, whether hand-held or hands-free:

1. Are much less aware of what’s happening on the road around them
2. Fail to see road signs
3. Fail to maintain proper lane position and steady speed
4. Are more likely to ‘tailgate’ the vehicle in front
5. React more slowly and take longer to brake
6. Are more likely to enter unsafe gaps in traffic
7. Feel more stressed and frustrated.

They are also four times more likely to crash, injuring or killing themselves and/or other people. So guys, please remember this: Drive to arrive alive!.

Last but not the least, wishing you a joyous holidays and a prosperous new year of 2009. Kind regards from West Africa.