Sierra Leone bans right hand vehicle importation

A Japanese made right hand drive vehicle

A ban on importation and use of right hand vehicles came into effect this week in Sierra Leone.

From September 1, 2013, no one is expected to import any vehicle whose steering is on the right hand side, the Ministry of Transport and Aviation said in a statement.

The government first made the announcement last month and gave a grace period of one year for those who might have made orders already for such vehicles.

This means that starting September 1, 2014, no such vehicles would be allowed to enter the country and all those in existence by then are expected to have been converted to left hand drive.

The government says the move is necessary

to cut down on road accidents which are mostly blamed on right hand vehicles.

According to police figures, in 2012 alone 246 people died with 1032 seriously injured in road accidents across the country.

The Sierra Leone Road Transport Authority (SLRTA) says right-hand vehicles allow limited vision given their position on the road and about half of such vehicles registered by the authority get involved in accidents.

With most vehicles running without insurance, victims lose their lives or property in vain.

Sierra Leone in 1971 departed from one of the British colonial legacies when it changed from driving on the left hand side of the road to the right hand side.

That required all vehicles to be changed to left hand drive.

The phasing out of the previously existing right hand vehicles had hardly completed when the (1991-2002) war broke out.

And when it ended, there was a dire need of vehicles given the wide spread destruction.

Vehicle importation thus went on without check.

But a few months back the government said it had become necessary to enforce the law.

“I am prepared and have the political will to sustain this ban devoid of any political or regional influence,” Transport and Aviation minister, Leonard Balogun Koroma, said Monday while officially pronouncing the ban.

"This decision is taken in the best interest of public safety and in conformity with ECOWAS Protocol after extensive consultations between the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, SLRTA, Motor Drivers' Union and other stakeholders," a statement by the ministry said earlier.

But the change is set to affect mostly Sierra Leoneans living in the UK who have warned the government risks losing huge revenue as a result.

The UK remains among the countries around the world where right hand vehicles are the norm.

Some 1500 Sierra Leoneans living there recently submitted a petition under the so-called ‘Union of Sierra Leoneans in UK/Ireland` urging the government to limit the ban to commercial right hand vehicles, which they say are the sole cause of accidents attributed to right hand vehicles.

Right hand vehicles importation from the UK are known to generate marvelous income for the government, part of the petition letter published in the local press reads.

“Our fledgling economy needs such income albeit responsible measures should be taken to manage the identified risks associated with public safety and interest in that respect,” it adds.