By: Modou Touray
Dozens of commercial drivers who ply the Banjul-Soma, Bansang, and Basse-Farafenni have justified that they over-speed on the highway due to pressure from some passengers onboard.
The drivers, who use special vans locally called “sprinters”, said most of the provincial travellers who board their vehicles are always in a hurry to reach early.
“Our sprinter vans don’t waste time on the road. Travellers feel they cannot patiently wait for the buses that frequently stop on the way. They want to get home as soon as possible,” said Ello Bah, a Basse sprinter van driver.
Lamin Jobe, another driver who plies Brikama to Soma added:
“Nobody drives, with the intention to commit an accident but driving at a chameleon pace, consumes more fuel and it affects our daily income.”
Sprinter vans plying from Soma to Brikama normally make many trips daily. Businessmen and women who transport their goods to the Greater Banjul areas from the provinces prefer hiring the sprinter van so that they could sell on time.
“Some vendors will buy fish and use our vehicle to transport it from Brikama to Jarra Soma. They put the fish in a simple bucket with a few blocks of ice. They want to reach early because otherwise, their fish might be spoiled,” Omar Koteh said.
Yusupha Bojang said: “We know the risks, but we are also careful because they pay to arrive early for their interest, and we are also concerned about the life of people.”
Dembo Njie is a sprinter van driver from Jarra Soma. He transports women vendors to the Brikama market from Jarra Soma daily. He departs as early as 3 a.m. and reaches Brikama in less than 2 hours.
From Kiang Tankular to Brikama, Jarra Soma to Basse, and Farafenni to Barra, Sprinter vans are the most popular commercial commuting vehicles. They are often used by business travellers with goods and passengers on emergency trips.
“Sometimes if you slow down, the passengers will shout at you to drive fast. We are under pressure but some of them when they complained that we are over-speeding, we reduce our speed too,”
Sulayman Jah explained.
It’s a choice between reaching their destinations on schedule and the risk of being a victim of a serious accident. Over-speeding drivers struggle a lot to avoid animals and people crossing the highway. If they do not concentrate fully, they are likely to cause incidents. Lamin Manjang is a retired driver who told The Fatu Network that passengers forcing drivers to add speed is risky and drivers must not accept that.
The president of the Gambia transport union, Omar
Ceesay advised to carefully observe the authorised traffic signs on the road and drive according to ethics.
“Driving is a professional job, you as a driver, are responsible for driving your vehicle. No passenger should pressure you to over-speed, driving is a professional job. If you cause an accident, that is your fault,” he stated.
The Police Public Relations Officer ASP Binta Njie pointed out that if drivers over-speed, they are not only endangering the lives of passengers on board but other road users as well.
“If you have the right as a passenger to arrive early, the driver equally has the responsibility of driving safely to protect lives.
