In the jaws of death
It is worth noting that not a single day passes without hearing of the horrors emanating from the carnages that occur on our roads. Many innocent lives continue to be lost and it seems the country looks on unperturbed at this disturbing trend.
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Having lost some family members, friends and colleagues, I deem it appropriate to join the debate with my stance on this issue which has not only attained the status of a canker but has rendered several people widows and orphans.
To start with I must admit that I do not subscribe to the superstitious connotations accorded such distasteful happenings. I believe it is purely human-made and as such have a right to blame all stakeholders involved - drivers, police, passengers, institutions, road contractors, among others.
It is undisputed that close to half the number of vehicles plying our roads do not even deserve to be reduced to scraps. It still beats my imagination how such vehicles are sanctioned as roadworthy only to get on our roads to kill people.
These vehicles are cleared from our ports once the duties are paid on them. The relevant institutions like the police and Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority which should know better also sleep on the job giving a field day to such vehicles to cause mayhem.
Also, it is on record that the bad roads across our country contribute significantly to accidents. Our roads are rendered useless after just a short time of construction. The roads are spotted with numerous potholes which clearly exhibit the shoddy work contractors undertake.
It thus questions the relevant entities who should be monitoring the activities of these contractors whether the country gets value for its money looking at the huge sums used to bankroll road projects.
Moreover, at every lorry station across the country, one can easily spot a drinking pub which is heavily patronised by the drivers thereby questioning our seriousness to fight the accident menace.
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Some drivers also, in their quest to rake in more money, drive several hours without resting while others also overspeed, endangering the lives of the occupants of the vehicles.
Strangely, passengers who should be checking driver indiscipline on our roads tend to encourage them to speed as they race against time to reach their individual destinations. If such things happen we all know the end results.
Institutions like the National Road Safety Commission are not doing much by way of safety campaigns across the country. They are impeded by lack of staff, logistics and skills to perform their mandate. They only campaign during Christmas and Easter since by their calculation such occasions are susceptible to accidents.
These are just a few situations happening right in our faces which have claimed lots of lives and the earlier we do something to ameliorate the situation the better it will be for us all.
Intensive campaign needs to be mounted across the country to make sure that every corner gets the message.
Ghana needs everyone to spearhead the development it has embarked upon and it will be inimical if we continue to lose many citizens to this canker.
(quojodanquah@gmail.com)