Last Monday the country woke up to yet another tragic development, another disaster on our roads. Whether it was as a result of a faulty break, drunkenness, over speeding, or what have we, it simply does not matter anymore. All we know is that our unilaterally declared Road Safety Campaign has yielded the most graphic of carnage since we kick-started the campaign.

Ten innocent people have lost their lives, and a number of others are currently hospitalised, between life and death, and some permanently incapacitated. For God’s sake, could we not see reason enough to stop these unnecessary killing and maiming?  It takes just the smallest act of recklessness to destroy the lives of other people who have an equal right to live?

The revelations that surfaced in the wake of this unfortunate development go far beyond highlighting the ardent need to rein in our drivers and vehicle owners. It also demands that we look a little bit into the roles of other relevant institutions in this effort.

One might as well ask why would the police allow trucks of that nature to ply the roads at that time - the police would may be say rightly they did not allow it. Another key question has to do with the ludicrous discovery that ambulances stationed at the health centre that is supposed to serve a settlement of the magnitude of Brikama had no fuel when their services were needed.

This is dangerously shameful on the part of the management of the health centre. Imagine if the benevolent Lang Tombong Tamba and SOS Abdou Colley were not in the vicinity, what would have been the fate of those victims that needed urgent attention? Or weren’t the authorities there expecting that the emergency could occur at any time? These questions and many more of their kind should be answered by the right persons.

Meanwhile, we want to convey our heart-felt sympathy to the families and friends of the victims for  this tragic loss. We do hope that this will serve as catalyst to intensify the struggle. The Daily Observer’s Roving Lens though, will never relent. Together we can stamp it out.