Road Safety Commission declares war on motorbike riders

The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) says it will embark on an exercise to arrest riders who carry more than the required passengers on their motorbikes.

The exercise, which will begin in the Greater Accra Region, will also affect motor riders who do not use helmets.

The Greater Accra Regional Manager of the NRSC, Mrs Catherine Hamilton, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in an interview at Big Ada in the Greater Accra Region during a sensitisation campaign to educate drivers and riders on road traffic regulations.

Clampdown

Mrs Hamilton said the commission, in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service, would soon clampdown on commercial motorcycles, more popularly called okada, and other riders of motorbikes to get them to conform to road traffic regulations.

As part of the campaign, the commission visited lorry stations and market centres to sensitise commercial vehicle drivers, passengers and other aspects of the public on road safety regulations.

The commission gave out road safety flyers to drivers and riders as refresher guide for their operations.
She appealed to commercial drivers to limit speed and avoid overloading to check preventable accidents.

Asafotufiami

Mrs Hamilton said the sensitisation campaign was also to ensure an accident-free Asafotufiami festival of the people of Ada, which was celebrated over the weekend.
She entreated passengers to be selective of the commercial vehicles they patronised and to speak up against reckless driving by motorists.

Responsibility

A Road Safety advocate, Osofo Moses, said "the responsibility is for all to commit to ensure an accident-free society. This requires that we initiate a behavioural change towards our safety on the road. We must think about road safety at all times".