Accidents kill more Ghanaians than HIV/AIDS - RM

Winneba-Junction, June 12, GNA - The Central Regional Minister, Nana Ato Arthur, has stated that road accidents are killing more Ghanaians than the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

He called on stakeholders in the transportation sector to find a lasting solution to the problem.

Nana Arthur made the call when he launched a road safety educational programme for parents, teachers and school children at Winneba-Junction in the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District organised by the National Road Safety Commission.

The Regional Minister also inaugurated Road Safety Committees made up of 15 members each for the Agona, Gomoa and Awutu-Effutu-Senya Districts.

Nana Ato Arthur said 54 accidents were recorded on the Gomoa Assin-Kasoa route, 19 of them were fatal in 2004, saying that the 49 were reregistered in 2005 out of which 12 were fatal. He noted that between 2004 and 2005, 49 lives were lost in the region through accidents and said some of them could have been avoided if the drivers had not been carelessness and reckless. The Minister expressed regret that some drivers listened to calls on their mobile phones while driving and committed other human errors and suggested the enacting a law to ban the use mobile phones while driving especially on the highways.

He called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to include road safety in the curriculum to keep students and pupils abreast with road traffic regulations.

Nana Ato Arthur noted that the country needed its human resource for its socio-economic and political development and could not lose them through accidents.

He cautioned passengers to desist from requesting drivers to speed to avert accidents, adding that, "We all should be road safety ambassadors to ensure safety on our roads". Mr Thomas Boakye, Road Safety Coordinator for Central and Western Regions, urged members of the Committees to work hard to reduce accidents area especially on the Kasoa to Gomoa Assin road. He stressed that the members were empowered to arrest drivers who flouted driving rules.

Mrs May Obiri-Yeboah, Manager (Planning and Education) Road Safety Commission, said from 2001 to 2005 if the National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) had not been embarked on by the national Road Safety Commission road accidents would have cost the nation 387 million dollars. 12 June 06