Stakeholders call for extra care on roads as yuletide approaches

Speakers at a road safety awards ceremony in Ho have called for patience and extra care by road users in order to reduce carnage on our roads.
The speakers stressed that those values should be cultivated religiously, especially as the Christmas and the New Year seasons were getting nearer and the demand for transport and its attendant mobility increases.

The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, appealed to all road users to eschew negative attitudes such as drunk driving, excessive speeding, use of cell phone while driving and insensitivity to pedestrians at crossing points.

Quoting statistics from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), he indicated that an estimated 2,249 people were killed through vehicular accidents last year and that 60 per cent of the victims were in the productive age group of 18-55 years.

He said it was estimated that 1.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product(GDP) was attributed to loss of productive man hours, property damage, medical bills and administrative cost, among others, and added that the nation lost GH¢26.17 billion annually as a result of road accidents.

Mr Afotey-Agbo expressed regret about the emerging problem associated with the motor cycle business popularly called OKADA and said the police Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) must enforce the ban on the business.

He added that private motor riders should be made to comply with road traffic regulations to minimise accidents and attendant injuries and fatalities.

The Volta Regional Manager of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), Mr Sebastian Akyeampong, said although there had been a decrease in road accidents in the first half of the year, there were still problems relating to high fatalities of vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and motor riders and their pillions.

The Volta Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kofi Asare, said investigations into the causes of road accidents had revealed that human error was responsible for majority of accidents.

He, therefore, called for intensified road safety education, and added that various drivers unions should collaborate with statutory organisations to educate the public to minimise road accidents.

Metro Mass Transport organisation emerged the winner of the fourth Regional Transport Unions Awards with the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) taking the second position. The Progressive Road Transport Association (PROTOA) and the Co-operative Transport Union took the third and fourth positions respectively.

The Chairman for the function, who was also the Executive Director of Road Safety Enforcement Foundation (ROSEF), Togbui Dunyoh IV, was also awarded a certificate in recognition of advocacy towards road safety in the region.

He said individual drivers should be considered for awards in order to stimulate interest in road safety programmes.

By Tim Bzamboe/Daily Graphic/Ghana