REPORT CARELESS DRIVERS

—Road users urged

STORY: FROM JAMES APPIAKORANG JR., & RUTH ANDY, KUMASI, A/R

Road users in the country have been advised to take the trouble to report careless drivers who do not observe roads signs and regulations to the police since these are the things that contribute to road accidents.

Knowing that careless driving is an offence punishable by law as stated in the section 233 of the Road regulations, pedestrians who do not report such law breakers to the police because they were not directly involved or need to be somewhere might be in greater danger someday.

The new Ashanti Regional Director of Ghana Road Safety Commission (GRSC), Mr. Bismark Boakye, who gave the advice, expressed worry at the statistics available which he indicated his outfit will soon make it public.

Available documents indicate that Ghana lose 1.6 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), as a result of road accidents.

Also, the nation records 11,400 road accidents, with 1,800 being fatalities while 1,400 people suffer various degrees of injuries during the year.

Speaking at the presentation of the 16th Report on Road Governance Along West Africa’s Trade Corridor held in Kumasi last week, Mr. Boakye noted that most drivers refused to observe road signs because there is no one to monitor and report them to the police.

He was of the view that the country could only cut down its increasing rate of road accidents by 80 percent if road users report careless drivers and also observe road signs accordingly.

“Ghanaians are fond of overlooking such things and making culprits go free but unfortunately these are the very little things that contribute to road accidents,” he averred.

The Chief Director of the Ashanti regional Coordinating Council, Mr. S. Kusi Appiah, who spoke on behalf of the regional minister, bemoaned the increasing spate of road accidents describing it as bother to government and road users.

“…These unfortunate road accidents that occur in our country are a serious challenge to both road users and stakeholders in the transport industry.”

In order to appropriately address this menace Mr. Appiah Kusi submitted that there was the need for an effective road transport governance regime to help stem the tide.

The chief director explained that road transport governance is an introduction of a comprehensive strategy that seeks to allow for goods to move quickly and said this reduces the cost of trucking across borders.

On ways which the menace could be curbed, Mr. Kusi Appiah expressed the hope that a good partnership between the Ghana Shippers Authority and the USAID with other stakeholders in the transportation industry would help.

The deputy Chief Executive of the Ghana Shippers, Authority Emmanuel Martey, called for more collaboration amongst stakeholders in the industry, adding that his outfit continues to organise sensitization programs for road users.

Mr. Martey revealed that the Ghana Shippers Authority has established a Shippers Complaint and support units at the country’s borders of Elubo , Aflao and the Kotoka International Airport to give ready assistance to importers and exporters using these entry or exit points.

He said the units are also intended to deal with issues of the trade disputes.