Ghana must institute ‘Road Safety Day’ - Foundation

Safe Journey Foundation, a Civil Society Organization (CSO), campaigning for discipline on the roads, has proposed to the government to institute a ‘Road Safety Day’.

The Day, according to the Foundation, should be dedicated each year to creating public awareness on motor traffic and transport issues to impact positive attitudinal change Ghanaians.

“Much as we believe such an occasion ought not to necessarily be declared as a public holiday, the initiative is critical to reducing to the barest minimum the carnage on our roads, borne out of negligence on the part of stakeholders,” the Foundation noted.

This was contained in a statement signed by Mr. Patrick Kwame Frimpong, the Chairman, and copied the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Kumasi.

It bemoaned the loss of many innocent lives to road crashes, over the years due to ignorance and non-adherence to motor traffic and transport regulations by drivers, passengers and pedestrians, alike.

Ghana has witnessed an upsurge in motor accidents over the last three weeks, with the most serious one occurring recently on the Kintampo-Techiman road, which claimed about seventy (70) lives with scores of people sustaining various degrees of injury.

The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) estimates that 411 people were killed in 2, 126 reported road accidents, involving 3, 428 vehicles between January and February, this year.

In all, 2, 440 people were reported to have sustained injuries in those accidents.

The statement proposed that part of proceeds from the road tolls could be used in purchasing more towing cars, ambulances and fire tenders, which should be located at strategic locations to respond to emergency situations.

Additionally, the Assemblies must facilitate the setting up of District Road Safety Commissions made up of identifiable groups, including the private and public sectors.

This body should be mandated and resourced to spearhead road safety issues, especially educational campaigns and outreach programmes for the benefit of the masses.

The statement advised the Police Council to consider fashioning out innovative training programmes for personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) to expose them to the contemporary demands of their work.