Sierra Leone Drivers' Test to Include Playing Board Game?

11 years ago - 28 October 2013, Autoblog

In an effort to curb accidents and road deaths - there are no working traffic lights and last year more than 380 fatalities occurred in 2,204 reported accidents - the West African country of Sierra Leone is adding a requirement to the process of earning a driver's license: drivers-to-be must play a board game before they take their driving test, Mirror reports.

No, it's not just any board game. It's The Driver's Way, which uses the country's road laws as source material and plays like Monopoly. Players roll traffic-light themed die and move little model cars around the board, encountering "vehicle tests" and road-law questions along the way.

People preparing to take the actual driver's license test must buy the game, which is made in India, for 60,000 Leones (almost $14). Three-thousand copies reportedly have already been imported.

Sarah Bendu, executive director of Sierra Leone's Road Transport Authority, says, after buying the game, "Then they will play it for two or three months, or maybe just one if they're smart enough, then they will come for their test."

Morie Lenghor, assistant inspector general of the police - and the game's creator - thinks the game will improve conditions on the road. "Most crashes here are a result of ignorance of the highway code. And most drivers don't even understand half the road signs."