"Pem-Pem Man Na Do it Again"

Pem-Pem motor cycles are a huge benefit to the transport industry in Liberia, but how ordinary Liberians consider pem-pem riders might be far from reality. A lot of accidents involving pep-pem riders occur on a daily basis in Monrovia, and the general conclusion is, pem-pem riders are always responsible. The perception many people have about pem-pem riders have shaped the thinking of even health workers who attend to injured pem-pem riders, yet these struggling people transport market women, professional people,students, and police officers to work, school or other places.sometimes the police often use pem-pem rders to track traffic violators. . Despite all of the good things about pem-pem riders, many still label them as criminals, careless drivers and more over NONE LIVING THINGS. Some who drive light and heavy vehicles are serious rivals to pem-pem to the extent that they [pem-pem] are delibrately knocked down while in the traffic. Some drivers claim that pem-pem should not be on the main road. All of these have been said based on today's incident which involved a truck driver and a pem-pem rider along with an immigration officer riding in the Duala area when suddenly a truck, TT 467, knocked the two down with the immigration officer, a lady, was seen with an injured leg and claiming that she could not walk all by herself. The pem-pem rider jumped and escaped while the lady suffered the consequences of a careless and wicked truck driver.Interestingly, I was also on a another pem-pem when I arrived on the scene, few seconds after the incident had occured."Pem-pem man na do it again", someone said from a crowd of onlookers. Guilty was the name of the pem-pem rider immediately after the accident. In monrovia, once an accident occurs involving a pem-pem rider, a conclusion is that pem-pem caused that accident. This is not fair and justice should be given to these hard working man who are a big help to the transport industry.

.

While it is true that pem-pem riders take advantage of the jammed traffic, some drive recklessly and even cause injuries to their passengers and sometimes pedestrans. Many issues surrounding traffic violations and passengers and drivers rights are yet to be addressed by the Liberia national Police. Professional judgement should not be based on how people in general feel about pem-pem riders. A fair play is needed!