Editorial by Ghanaian Times: Review road safety control measures

Since its establishment, the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has been organising campaigns to ensure road safety in the country.

Of particular note are the special Christmas and Easter campaigns organised annually to remind drivers of their responsibility to save lives while discharging their duties.

Last Friday, the NRSA, in partnership with the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety, launched in Accra the 2024 Stay-Alive Easter Campaign.

At the launch, the NRSA asked drivers to strictly adhere to road safety regulations to prevent road crashes during this year’s Easter festivities, which begin this Friday until next Monday, April 1.

What the whole thing means is that there will be an increase in passengers this week, and a good number of people will travel to their hometowns and elsewhere for the festivities and return to base afterward, which causes drivers to want to employ all means possible to increase their takings.

Even though the NRSA believes strict adherence would help reduce the number of cases of road accidents, deaths, and injuries in the country during the festive period, we think the previous campaigns have not helped much, as the statistics show on average that the country consistently experiences increases in road crashes.

For instance, available statistics indicate that 2,260 crashes involving 3,910 vehicles have occurred in the first two months of this year, compared with 2,249 crashes involving 3,857 vehicles during the same period last year.

The sad thing is that while last year’s clashes killed 330 people, injured 2,502 people, and recorded 382 pedestrian knockdowns, this year’s (2024) have killed 369, injured 2,552 people, and knocked down 381.

The 2024 increases over the 2023 figures in percentage terms are 0.49 percent for crashes, 1.37 percent for vehicles involved, 11.82 percent for fatalities, and 2.0 percent for the injured.

Drivers in the country keep defying road safety regulations as the major causes of crashes remain mostly human errors.

These errors are mostly fatigue, drunk driving, reck­less driving, including wrong over-taking.

At this juncture, we think three things should be the focus of road safety in the country: driver education focusing on the psychology of the driver, the strict management of the leadership of drivers’ unions as well as vehicle owners, and truly punitive laws.

Has the NRSA taken note of the types of drivers in the country and pointed out this in the bid to educate drivers, vehicle owners, and drivers’ union managers or leaders?

Like all humans, drivers exhibit certain negative traits, but their cases are normally more dangerous because they are doing so on the road.

We have, for instance, fatigued drivers who, despite their tiredness, would still insist on driving.

What about distracted, rushed, emotional, and new/inexperienced drivers?

Let us get to know who all these drivers are and use their traits to educate them and other stakeholders.