Put On Seat Belt; It Saves Lives - Ayeh-Paye Advises Vehicle Users

Former Member of Parliament for Ayensuano constituency, Samuel Ayeh-Paye has cautioned drivers who drive without wearing seat belts as well as passengers who do a similar thing to put a stop to such behaviour.

Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme on road accidents, Samuel Ayeh-Paye noted that many people perish in accidents on the road because they don't wear seat belt.

He sermonized that having a seat belt on saves life, so wondered why drivers and passengers refuse to wear a seat belt when aboard a vehicle.

As a former Chairman of the Roads and Transport Committee of parliament, he narrated an incident where the seat belt saved the life of a former Inspector General of Police.

''The seat belt saved the life of former Inspector General of Police, Peter Nanfuri. I was then in my office when a car which had been mangled beyond recognition was brought to the premises. I asked who was in it and they said it was the IGP. I went further to find out if he had perished during the accident but the people told me no but he rather vanished. To them, he vanished because they can't understand how he survived such an accident.

''I went into the car to do further checks and checked the seat belt. There is a way to check to see if the driver had the seat belt on or not. So, I checked and found out he was wearing the seat belt. What happened was his vehicle somersaulted many times but because he was in a seat belt, it held him in position. But imagine if he wasn't in the seat belt, he would have been thrown out of the windscreen . . . Seat belt indeed saves lives!''

Hon. Ayeh-Paye also advised Police officers who check vehicles at the various checkpoints to desist from talking to occupants in the vehicle while they are in traffic to avoid gridlock.

He charged the Police to practice a ''pull out'' method where they pull the vehicle to the side of the road to allow other vehicles to pass while they engage the occupants.