CONGO TOWN, Montserrado – One early night a few weeks ago, after the sun had set and the roads of Greater Monrovia had become dark enough to require drivers to start blaring their high beam lights, an unusually slow traffic jam had sprouted in Congo Town, right around where the Palm Springs Hotel is located.

On the road were slippers, belonging to a victim of a traffic accident. At the sides of the road, bystanders gathered in numbers and watched as is normally the fashion in Liberia whenever there is an attention-grabbing event.

While the specific details of the accident are not clear, poor visibility on the roadway undoubtedly played a role.

Poor maintenance and a general lack of streetlights on Monrovia’s streets means Liberian drivers have become accustomed to driving on poorly lit roads, even when those roads cross through urban environments.

A midnight drive through Central Monrovia shows a place more resembling a village than the center of the capital city of Africa’s oldest republic.

In interviews, several drivers in Monrovia have identified poor street lighting at night as a major factor leading to bad driving and motor accidents across the city.

The drivers told The Bush Chicken that poor visibility at night causes them to drive on their high beam lights at night, thus impairing the visibility of other drivers.

Jacqueline Sneh, a government employee, said driving late at night along Tubman and SKD Boulevards, two major roads in the city, is a high risk, especially for new drivers.

“It is a terrible experience because cars are speeding on high beams, which can confuse any driver,” Sneh said.

A damaged street light along the SKD Boulevard route. Photo: Gbatemah Senah

According to her, her first experience was around December last year when she left her office late at night and already exhausted, but had to drive herself home that night.

“I pray never to experience such thing,” she said.

Since her first experience, Sneh said she would now rather sleep at her office when it’s late than to drive home.

Allison Quiah, a taxi driver, also described driving late as challenging.

He explained that while a driver might be tempted to avoid driving on their high beam out of courtesy to other drivers, they do so at their own risk; they might easily collide into broken down vehicles or pedestrians using the road.

“The lack of better street lighting system will continue to be a factor for road accidents if it is not addressed,” he said.

Another taxi driver, Humphrey Kolleh, is calling on the government to study the street lighting system in Monrovia and find a better solution.

Kolleh said such action on the part of the government would be a positive step toward reducing motor road accidents in the city.

Currently, there are no streetlights on parts of major streets, including Tubman Boulevard. In the areas where there are some street lights, they do not work effectively.

Road accidents in Liberia are high even on paved roads, Monrovia alone accounts for a significant portion of the sum of all the cases, although this may likely be because most vehicles are stationed in Monrovia.

The Liberia Electricity Corporation’s public relations specialist, Mambu James Kpargoi, said LEC is responsible for all street lights “including installations and maintenance of street lights.”

Amid undeniable evidence to the contrary, Kpargoi denied claims that most of Monrovia’s streets lacked proper lighting, including Tubman and SKD Boulevards.

According to him, LEC has made tremendous strides and ensure that most parts of the boulevards are beaming with street lights at night, adding that residents of communities on those routes have been commending LEC for brightening their communities.

He said since the end of the civil war, the streets of Monrovia have been made brighter than ever before in the country’s history.

Kpargoi said 10 pieces of solar street lights were also installed along SKD Boulevard to improve visibility at night on that part of the road.

The lights, he said, were donated by international icon Akon during his visit to Liberia to launch his Light to Learn Initiative in partnership with Tikkun Olan and Bridge Partnership School for Liberia.

The street light situation is compounded by the fact that the Ministry of Transport and the Liberian National Police have not been enforcing the Vehicle and Traffic Law.

Parts of the law specify acceptable types of headlights and other lamps for vehicles. Additionally, special lighting requires for larger vehicles are specified in the law.  Those laws are frequently broken because the Transport Ministry does not require the physical inspection of vehicles before they are deemed roadworthy.

According to police statistics, the number of road accidents in the country in 2016 increased to 1,557 from 1,149 in 2015. The statistics also indicate that 175 deaths and 1,539 injuries occurred last year because of road accidents.

Figures released by the police are not disaggregated based on the time of day of the accidents, but several prominent accidents that occurred recently occurred at night including the death of Cyril Allen, Jr., the former deputy commerce minister, and musician Quincy B.

Featured photo by Together Liberia