THE Eastern Regional Police Command and some stakeholders in road transport have embarked on a programme aimed at curbing the high rate of motor accidents in the region.
Under the programme dubbed: “Curbing road accidents—The role of stakeholders”, policemen would be deployed at vantage points at all times to enforce traffic regulations.
Defaulting drivers are to be arrested promptly and sent to court.
The exercise will bring on board the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU), the Driver, Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA), the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), the Progressive Transport Association (PROTOA), the Co-operative Transport Union and the various insurance companies in the region.
As part of the implementation of the programme, a forum attended by the stated stakeholders has been held at Koforidua to provide a platform for the participants to brainstorm on how to reduce accidents in the region.
In an address, the Eastern Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) George Anko-Bill, stated that although the driving profession had played a major role in the country’s socio-economic progress over the years, increasing road accidents had made travelling on the roads unfriendly.
He described the recent road accidents in the region in particular and the country as a whole as unprecedented due to the numerous people who had lost their lives, especially young people in their productive years.
DCOP Anko-Bill, who is also the Chairman of the Eastern Regional National Road Safety Commission, attributed the increasing rate of accidents to gross indiscipline and the failure of most drivers who were ignorant of the rules and regulations of the driving profession to observe simple road signs.
“Most of these problems have arisen since many of the commercial drivers plying the roads do not belong to any of the transport unions, hence the blatant disregard for traffic regulations”, he stated.
The regional commander appealed to drivers who had not yet registered with any of the transport unions to do so immediately.
He also called on the various transport unions to co-operate with the police and other stakeholders to check indiscipline on the roads.
“What we can all do to preserve the credibility of the driving profession is to set good examples by not hesitating to expose recalcitrant members who always flout traffic regulations”, he urged the executives of transport unions.
For his part, the Eastern Regional Commander of the MTTU, Superintendent James Peprah stated that in 2007, the region recorded 1,307 motor accidents involving 1,570 vehicles that claimed 215 lives with 1,568 people sustaining various degrees of injury.
He added that in 2008, the death toll rose to 245 from 1,162 accidents during which 1,465 people were injured.
The Eastern Regional Manager of the National Road Safety Commission, Mr Stephen Anokye, attributed the causes of most accidents to drunkenness, fatigue, wrongful overtaking, overloading, lack of maintenance of vehicles, among others, on the part of drivers.
He, therefore, urged motorists to abide by the rules and regulations of the profession to avert this situation.
The Eastern Regional DVLA boss, Mr V. Fiati, educated the participants on road codes.
During an open forum, the participants appealed to the personnel of the MTTU to intensify their road patrols to ensure sanity on the roads, urging them exhibit their preparedness to allow the rule of the law to prevail.
They also appealed to the government to provide rest stops at vantage points along the Accra-Kumasi trunk road to enable long distance drivers to take compulsory rest after every four-hour drive.
That, they hoped, would help reduce accidents on the roads.
No comments:
Post a Comment