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The Minister for Transport, Hon. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, has called on all Ghanaians, especially, stakeholders in the transport sector, to come together and work to reduce road accidents in the country to the barest minimum as the country goes to the polls on December 7 with Christmas festivities also just around the corner.

He has in effect, directed the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) to activate a provision in the Road Traffic Regulation 2012, L.I. 2180, that places a responsibility on commercial drivers to have a mandatory 30 minutes rest after every four hours of driving.

The call and directive to the DVLA and NRSA form part of government’s efforts to meet the target set globally by the United Nations (UN) to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries to by 50% by the year 2020.

Addressing stakeholders in the transport sector at the launch of Quality Bus Services’ known among the locals as ‘Azay ye mfo bi’, commissioning of a new DVLA office as well as the launch of this year’s comprehensive nationwide road safety campaign dubbed ‘Arrive Alive’ at an event in Takoradi on Thursday, October 1, 2020, Mr. Asiamah said the target set by the UN is achievable and urged all to give a helping hand.

“The United Nations has set a new global target for road safety in line with theme, ‘Achieving Global Goals 2030’ to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030. Under this global goal, Ghana is seeking to reduce road deaths and injuries from the current average of 2,000 fatalities and about 10,000 injuries per year by 50%. Achieving these targets is possible if we put in place the necessary strategies and structures, including adequate investment in public education, road engineering and emergency response to victims of road traffic crashes”, he noted.

Hon. Asiamah further told the gathering that there are key provisions in the Road Traffic Regulations 2012, L. I. 2180, that are yet to be implemented. 

He therefore, directed the DVLA and the NRSA to work together to ensure that the regulations including provisions on commercial transport operators, speeding and mandatory rest periods for drivers are implemented to the latter to reduce the carnage on the road.

The ‘Quality Bus Services’ initiative which is currently being piloted under the auspices of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, is to help deal with the obvious transportation challenges in the metropolis.

The buses, according to the Transport Minister, will be deployed on the following routes: Takoradi to Apowa, Takoradi to Shama, Takoradi to Sekondi, and Takoradi to Kwesimintsim.

“Our commitment is to ensure that at least, majority of the travelling public within the urban areas travel by some means of mass transportation”, he underscored.

He said some sections of the routes would be dedicated solely for use by buses during the cause of the pilot and therefore, appealed to motorist to respect the dedicated priority lanes since the success of the bus service depends to a large extent, on adherence to operational procedures.