Roads Unsafe - Victor Tandoh

THE FORMER Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) boss, ACP Victor Tandoh has bemoaned the spate of motor accidents in the country describing the road system as unsafe for everybody. �Unless there is a review of the laws governing road safety regulations by parliament and stiffer punishment for road offenders, the phenomenon will continue to be the number one killer in the country,� he said. According to him, the nation has good laws and policy framework in curtailing road safety menace in the books, but they are not operational. He said there are also instances of unnecessary interference from policy makers to prevent the law enforcement agencies from doing their work. The former police boss said the country has come a long way in educating people about the safety on the roads, but certain people still think that the road safety regulations are meant for others, not them. Speaking on Radio Gold�s morning show programme �Gold Power Drive,� hosted by Alhassan S. Suhuyini, ACP Tandoh said there is general indiscipline on the road with regards to wrongful overtaking, over speeding, negligence, ignoring of safety road signs and attitudinal symptoms by both drivers and road users. �It is high time all of us stepped up the education and emphasize on the need to respect road safety regulations to save thousands of precious lives which perish through road accidents each year,� he revealed. On his part, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana Roads Safety Commission, Kwame Koduah Atuahene said road accidents have been the number one killer in the country, even more than armed robbery and other killer diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. Mr. Atuahene added that available statistics throughout the country and quarterly reports have placed road accidents on top of deaths recorded in the country. He said an average of six people die each day on the road with 150 precious lives recorded each month and over 2,000 people die yearly as a result of road accidents. The PRO said major players in the transport industry whose core interest is to ensure or check the operation of drivers on the road such as the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) have failed to do due diligence. �It�s their core mandate (GPRTU) to check the worthiness of the vehicle before being allowed to transport passengers, check on the driver to be sure of no intoxication and also prevent the sale of hard liquor in and around the station. �If all these things fail, that is when the police have to come in and check licence, road worthiness and other things. So let all come together and fight a common goal which I believe we will succeed,� he stated. Contributing to the same subject, the Eastern Regional MTTU boss, Chief Superintendent Samuel Tetteh said the region alone for the first quarter has recorded 80 deaths as a result of road accidents more than any other crime in the area. Supt. Tetteh added that most of these crashes normally involve vehicles from neighbouring countries, a situation he said needs dialogue between the countries. He further said there should be stiffer punishment and jail terms for offenders; �that way, most drivers and road users will be careful on the road� and he quickly called for the re-introduction of Motor Court and other measures to curb the situation.