Stop arbitrary construction of speed humps

I recently travelled to Takoradi in the company of an investor and my embarrassment was apparent when my friend wanted to know the approximate time for the journey. As if that was not enough, he tried to find out the rationale for the myriad of speed breakers that had been mounted on the road. He probed further to know who was responsible for erecting the ones with clays, metal bars, blocks and whatever.

I found it difficult to answer his questions so I pretended to be concentrating on meandering over one such speed hump which scratched under our car badly. On the opposite side of the road an articulated truck had fallen off one of those speed humps.

When we got to Takoradi my friend would not let the matter ‘sleep’ despite my embarrassment. He asked me why we had to virtually use double our estimated time for the journey and I murmured something about single lane and slow trucks. He then asked whether I knew the effect of the speed humps on travel time and the cumulative effect on productivity. He even wanted to find out who paid for the cost of repairs of the articulated truck which had fallen on its side because of the hump. In a defensive mode I argued that it had to be the owner since he owned the car, or probably the driver. The big question came: How about the government and its agencies who are to make the roads safe for us? How come there was no warning signs ahead of the steep hump. The final question came: You have travelled extensively. Mention one country which spends millions of dollars to construct roads and then destroy same with speed humps. So are what we call highways really highways?

I murmured a quick good night and declined his invitation to a drink up at the bar of the hotel. Back in my room, sleep became a scarce commodity as I kept seeing scary images of huge speed humps dotted along our highways. Then the questions kept flooding my mind. Can everybody, after a bowl of fufu and green soup helped by a quarter bottle of akpeteshi, wake up in the morning and start constructing speed humps? At least shouldn’t there be some consultation with other stake holders, especially the authority whose responsibility it is to construct our roads? How about getting the right measurements, or are speed humps done according to measurements provided by the odikro?

Has the construction of these speed humps prevented accidents on our highways? I’m afraid not. Should the highway authority succumb to the whims and caprices of settlements along highways so that once they attempt to do something such as humps the authority goes in to construct one for them? At what point did the authority realise the need for such humps? The fall out is that such actions have emboldened other settlements to chart a similar path. And so from Accra to Takoradi, Cape Coast to Kumasi, Accra to Tamale, all our highways are littered with all manner of speed humps. Apart from the effect on travel time is the effect on vehicle life, especially if one is not blessed with a V8.

Moving forward, I think the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) must wake up from its deep slumber and undertake a serious insection of our highways and determine which areas should have speed humps and provide such immediately. Such humps should factor the interest of the articulator, V8 vehicles down to the Tico; after all we all pay road tolls and other related taxes.

There should be efforts to educate residents of settlements along highways to realise that a highway is not part of anybody’s compound but made for vehicles. They must, therefore, exercise caution when crossing the road. The habit of living and trading on highways must cease forthwith. Police personnel should be placed at the outskirts of towns to ensure that drivers comply with stipulated speed limits.

In the long term, our roads should factor detours and exits from town as is the case in most countries. For example, why should I pass through Mankessim if I am going to Cape Coast from Accra and I have no business in Mankessim? I only go to add up to the traffic over there, and psychologically start to speed after Mankessim to make up for lost time. We need to sensitise the driving public to know that the road belongs to all manner of users, including bikers, riders and pedestrians and the best driver is the one who respects the rights of other road users. Additionally, drivers who knock down pedestrians should receive heavier penalties, including the withdrawal of licence for long periods. This may be expensive but the long-term dividends would surely justify it. After all, throughout history nobody has achieved different results by doing things the same way.

Writer’s E-mail : doreen.hammond@graphic.com.gh/aamakai@rocketmail.com