Brazzaville boosts road safety for moto-taxis
The hum of moto-taxis is the soundtrack of Brazzaville’s morning rush, but the accidents that follow the roar are a growing concern. On 21 October 2024, authorities launched an unprecedented crash-course designed to convert informal riders into certified professionals with safer reflexes on city roads.
The two-week programme is spearheaded by the General Directorate of Land Transport alongside the approved training centre SAFE. Their message is simple: better skills behind the handlebar mean fewer sirens on the avenue and more confidence for passengers who rely on moto-taxis daily across town.
Seven key modules in condensed lessons
SAFE’s trainers compressed their usual four-and-a-half-month curriculum into sessions of two hours a day, mindful that many riders still need to earn money between classes. Half of each session unpacks the Congolese highway code, the other half turns the classroom into an open forum discussion.
The seven thematic blocks cover priorities at crossroads, safe overtaking, speed limits, alcohol awareness, personal protective equipment, and the business side of transporting passengers. Weather, often underestimated in tropical traffic, gets its own slot to remind riders how sudden rain can change braking distances dramatically.
Practice week brings theory to life
After the classroom grind, students mount their bikes for a solid week of guided drills on a closed course that mimics city conditions. Cones stand in for weaving taxis, a painted line for pot-holes, and patient instructors for the impatient drivers met on real streets.
Expert trainer François Ofunga, a judicial accident investigator, stops each run to discuss what riders felt in the saddle. For many, he says, it is the first time someone links the physics of a skid to the human stories behind hospital statistics in Brazzaville wards.
Participants practice emergency braking, courteous passenger pickup, and helmet checks under the watchful eye of police observers invited by the DGTT. The presence of uniformed officers adds a note of seriousness, yet riders laugh when mastering zig-zag tests, a balance skill crucial in downtown congestion.
Certification opens door to licence exam
Successful trainees will receive a certificate clearing them to sit the Category 1 driving test scheduled for December. That exam, the first formal document for many moto-taxi operators, could become a passport to new micro-credit schemes and formal insurance once administrative steps are completed locally.
The DGTT hints that similar crash-courses may roll out in Pointe-Noire and several departmental hubs if Brazzaville’s pilot shows tangible drops in accidents. Officials are already compiling a baseline of incident reports to measure progress without relying on anecdote alone in the months after launch.
Riders and trainers share first reactions
Among the first cohort is Marie Mavoungou, 28, who turned to moto-taxis after losing an office job during the pandemic. “Clients feel uneasy when they see a woman rider,” she admits, “but a licence will prove I know the rules as well as any man.”
Veteran driver Jacques Ntsiba, 46, started before mobile apps and reflective vests existed. He signed up to refresh his knowledge. “The city changed, the traffic changed. If I change too, I keep my livelihood,” he says, adjusting a newly issued fluorescent jacket on his shoulders.
Safer rides, happier passengers and insurers
Commuters, for their part, welcome any initiative that tones down the high-pitched horns and sudden swerves that punctuate the daily commute across the capital. Market vendor Adélia Oko says regular customers already ask whether she boards a “trained” bike before entrusting their groceries to her.
Insurance companies are watching closely. Representatives hint that premiums could drop if data confirm that trained riders file fewer claims. Lower costs would benefit passengers too, because operators often pass risk surcharges directly into the fare that negotiators haggle over at every street corner daily.
Toward calmer streets and sustained change
Road-safety advocates caution that training alone cannot compensate for potholes, unlit intersections and overloaded trucks. Still, they praise the government for tackling human factors first, the element most easily changed through discipline and awareness. Civil engineers hope accident data will strengthen requests for better infrastructure funding.
The SAFE centre plans to upload short recap videos from each module to social media so absent riders can catch up and the public can peek at what is taught. The clips, optimised for smartphones, mirror the quick, visual style that shaped the condensed curriculum itself.
If the December exams run smoothly, organisers envision a graduation motorcade that would zig-zag through Brazzaville’s main boulevards, showcasing reflective vests and new licence numbers. For commuters, the parade would send a clear signal: the era of untrained moto-taxi improvisation is slowly giving way to professionalism.
Ultimately, safer riders mean fewer injuries, lower hospital bills and a more predictable flow of traffic that supports commerce. As horns fade into disciplined throttles, the two-week experiment may become a model showing how focused education can transform a city’s streets in record time safely.
