Children encouraged to be road safety conscious
A child-oriented road safety campaign aimed at promoting consciousness among children when using the road has been launched.
The campaign, dubbed Junior Road Care 2015, is part of efforts to reduce road accidents and fatalities among children, and is championed by Applause Multimedia in collaboration with the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC).
In a speech read on her behalf at the launch, the Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, said data available indicated that about 21 per cent of fatalities in road accidents involved children below 16 years.
She, however, said child fatalities in road accidents had in recent times witnessed a decline as a result of the frequent road safety education programmers by the NRSC.
She also attributed the decline in child fatalities in road accidents to the provision of safe pedestrian crossing facilities, pedestrian walkways and the institution of the lollipop stand project.
Advising the children, the Assistant Planning Officer of the NRSC, Mr Charles Kwarteng Oduro, asked them not to disturb their parents when they drove with them in their cars.
He said children must always wear seat belts and also sit in the passenger’s seat at the back of the car, adding that children must not use ear pieces to listen to music or radio while crossing the road, nor play football or games with friends when they crossed the street.
Focus of campaign
The Programme Coordinator of Applause Multimedia, Mr Mohammed Jaleel Ligbi, said the campaign was focused on children, since they were among the vulnerable road user group and needed to be empowered on the best road safety practices.
He expressed the hope that children would be encouraged to be road safety ambassadors through the junior road care campaign.
At the launch, pupils of 13 schools in Accra used the opportunity to participate in road safety competitions such as quiz, drama and poetry.
For the quiz competition, Service Primary and Junior High School emerged winners while Airforce Primary and Junior High schools were adjudged winners of the drama competition.
The Burma Camp Primary and Junior High School won the poetry competition on road safety and, like the other winners, took home certificates, souvenirs and other prizes.
