Road safety must be sustained during Christmas

Statistics provided by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) indicate that there has been a 17.1 per cent reduction in the number of vehicles involved in road accidents this year over last year’s crashes.

There is also an 18.4 per cent reduction in cases of pedestrian knockdown, 14 per cent reduction in deaths and 25.4 per cent reduction in the number of injured persons from January to November this year, compared to the same period last year.

This reduction, naturally, must gladden our hearts as we gradually inch towards the Christmas festivities. It does not, however, mean that we are going to have fewer or no road crashes during the Christmas period.

The reduction has been attributed to sustained public education and awareness, but experts say that the potential for crashes is high in the Yuletide because of the increase in human and vehicular movement.

While we are in agreement with the experts, we also posit that the failure to heed to road signs, drink-driving, among other don’ts on the road, have the propensity to increase road crashes during the Yuletide.

We caution that although in the books drivers have generally comported themselves on the roads, it will all count for nothing if, as we celebrate and make merry during the festivities, we throw caution to the wind and drive vehicles that are not roadworthy or drive carelessly.

According to the NRSC’s figures, while 1,713 people lost their lives in 12,000 road crashes last year, 1,474 have already been killed through 9,904 road crashes this year, which shows a reduction of only 239. By way of ratio, the figures for this year show a higher incidence of death over last year’s, and this is very worrying.

The reason for the trend is not hard to guess. We still have many of our drivers disobeying traffic regulations, driving on the shoulders of the road during rush hours and having many rickety vehicles, especially commercial ones, taking commuters to their destinations every day without let or hindrance.

It also looks as if the police have lost the fight against motorbikes and scooters that have multiplied on our roads and are being used commercially to transport people.

The Daily Graphic is not against motorbikes plying our roads, although they create a danger to pedestrians and other motorists as they manoeuvre on the same stretches of roads and streets used by vehicles.

Our worry is that riders of the bikes and scooters do disregard traffic signs and behave as if the signs are meant for only cars, buses andn trucks. They jump red light at will and face oncoming vehicles, thereby making our roads unsafe and only fit to be described as a jungle where only the tough survive.

The motors also overtake at both sides of moving vehicles, sometimes in droves, and do not care about traffic indicators on cars ahead of them. It takes only the extra cautious driver with an amount of experience in driving on the roads of big cities such as Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and the like not to run into the motorbikes.

For us to stem the tide and make our roads and streets safer, not only during Christmas but also all-year round, the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority (DVLA), the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), the Judiciary, the Legislature and the media have roles to play to ensure there is sanity on our roads.

Motorists including cyclists also have a role to play to ensure that vehicles are always in good condition, with special emphasis on steering, tyres and headlights, especially as the harmattan has made visibility very poor. They must also adhere to road signs and respect the police stationed at the various intersections.