Road Accidents: We Pay People To Talk Instead of Thinking - Dr. Otchere-Ankrah Cries

Governance Lecturer at the Central University, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, has bemoaned the misbehaviour of road users in the country resulting in road accidents.

According to a data provided by the Center for Transport Security Dialogue, Ghana has, between January and October 2021, recorded 2,380 fatal road accidents and 12,890 injuries with 13,244 cases of car crashes, all within the ten (10) months.

Assessing the data, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah dreaded the rate at which accidents keep occuring on the roads.

He largely blamed vehicle drivers for many of the road accident causes, stressing the reckless driving, overspeeding and overtaking is too much on the roads.

Also, he touched on the issue of drivers who have no licence but allowed to drive with no law enforcement personnel arresting them.

This, he noted, is very bad because the ''Police are supposed to be checking the drivers, and any person offending the road safety rules must be arrested and face prosecution''.

He also complained about the poor roads, indiscriminate speed ramps and lack of road signs or the use of billboards to overshadow the road signs, all these among other factors also cause road accidents in Ghana.

He quoted, in Ghana, ''we pay people to talk instead of paying people to think''; therefore admonishing the authorities and law enforcement agencies not to pay lip service to enforcing the driving and road safety laws.

Dr. Otchere-Ankrah believed should the Police step up their game in ensuring the safety of road users, there will be little to no accidents.

''As far as we are advising ourselves, the Police should also do their job effectively'', he said on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' Thursday morning.