The government of Cameroon has recently banned vehicles from plying the roads at night. According to the government most road accidents in Cameroon happen at night and are mostly caused by the fact that people drink and drive. Banning night travel is therefore intended to curb the alarming rate of accidents in the country. This argument is wrongheaded for many reasons. First, it drastically curbs economic activities, as one Cameroonian has already pointed out. With an already depressed economy, banning vehicles from traveling at night will only worsen the situation. Second, even though drinking while driving is one of the causes of road accidents in Cameroon, the deplorable state of the roads is far more significant. Only a very tiny percentage of roads in the country is tarred and even those that are tarred are remarkably narrow. These roads are in fact death traps. A more appropriate and sensible response to the carnage would be to improve the road infrastructure rather than banning night travel. Following this sensible solution would mean that the Biya regime is interested in solving the pressing problems Cameroonians face. But as we now know, he is not interested in solving the problems the country faces.
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