Observe road safety regulations during electioneering; Yaa Naa urges political parties

The Overlord of Dagbon, Yaa Naa Abukari Mahama II, has called on political parties to observe road safety regulations to make the country’s roads safe for all as this year’s electioneering gears up.

He said statistics indicated a trend of increased fatalities in election years as a result of increased motorisation and the culture of relaxed road traffic regulations by the enforcement agencies, hence the need to engage with the various political parties ahead of their campaigns.

Yaa Naa Abukari, who is also a National Road Safety Ambassador, made the call when he met with youth leaders of the various political parties at his palace in Yendi, last Monday.

The Overlord of Dagbon also used the occasion to present crash helmets to the youth leaders of the various political parties and also donated educational materials on road safety to some basic schools.

In the Northern Region, it is around this period when the electioneering campaign begins to heat up that the various political parties organise motorbike riders for rallies, meetings and campaigns to draw the attention of members of the public to their events.

That has often led to crashes resulting in deaths and the maiming of some of the youth who are engaged in this activity.

It was, therefore, against this background that Yaa Naa Abukari decided to engage with the youth leaders of the various political parties to enable them to educate their members on the need to ride with care to avoid some of these crashes.

Statistics

Yaa Naa Abukari in his address said provisional statistics from the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) on road traffic crashes for last year indicated that a total of 270 road traffic cases were reported involving 169 vehicles and 125 motorcycles in the Northern Region.

That, he said, resulted in 125 deaths and 664 injuries, with persons between the ages of five and 35 years being the most affected.

“It is common knowledge that the incident or motorbike-related crashes have risen generally due to the non–use of crash helmets and wanton disregard for road traffic regulations. Between 2018 and 2019, motorbike fatalities have risen by over 18.75 per cent, while it has increased by 400 per cent cumulatively in the last 10 years,” he stated.

However, the Yaa Naa said, those crashes were avoidable provided “we shall embrace global best road safety practices and commit ourselves, organisations, political parties and their members to obey simple regulations,” he added.

Caution

The Northern Regional Police Commander, Commissioner of Police, Mr Timothy Yoosa Bonga, for his part, cautioned all road users to be mindful while using the roads this year as it was an election year and the roads would be busy.

“It is an election year so there will be a lot of movements on the roads we need you alive to cast your votes, we need you alive to contribute to the development of this country,” he added.