Indiscipline accounts for the bloodbath on the roads - Veep

Accra, Jan. 9 GNA - The Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama has stated that indiscipline on the part of some road users was largely accountable for the bloodbath He identified excessive speeding as accounting for over 50 percent of all reported cases of motor accidents.

Mr. Magnus Opare-Asamoah, Deputy Minister of Road Transport read the speech on behalf of the Vice President at the launch of Ameri-Ghana Wireless Radio device in Accra.

The equipment, which is a two-way emergency communication radio, has its own transmitters and does not require any network or system. He said the road traffic accidents and their resultant human, social and economic costs to the nation had become major issues, which should engage the attention of all stakeholders. He said, apart from the grief and sorrow that the death of our compatriots in motor related accidents have on surviving relations, the estimated costs to the economy was between 1-3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He noted that four persons die daily due road traffic accidents and that 68.2 percent of persons killed annually fall within the active age of 16-55 years.

The Vice President also reminded jubilant fans during the Ghana 2008 tournament to strive to place premium on their lives, respect speed limits and road signs as well as have road safety precautions in their minds.

In a speech read for him, Mr Magnus Opare-Asamoah, Deputy Minister of Road Transport said government had strengthened the coordinating function of the NRSC to develop strategies to effectively deal with the issue. He said it was important that private individuals and organizations collaborate with the Commission in the true spirit of private-public partnership for the NRSC to achieve its objective of a single digit fatality rate per ten thousand vehicles by 2015.

Mr. Noble John Appiah, Acting Executive Director of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) said more than 1600 persons die annually in road fatalities particularly as over 60 percent of those fatalities involve persons in the economically active age group. He announced that the NRSC would, this year launch a road safety call-centre to create a platform for road users to dialogue and contribute to road safety efforts in the country. He said the programme would be a useful input for strategies in road traffic crash reduction and prevention. Mr Kevin Dokes, Chief Executive of Ameri-Ghana said the emergency radio device is a 40-channel radio with channels for emergencies, which would help save lives and cut down on crime.

He said the wireless radio equipment requires no chip or units to function and allows one to say all that needed to be said. He said the wireless radio works within a range of one to five miles and provides for an effective means of relaying emergency information such as robberies, broken down vehicles, traffic conditions and alternative routes to the appropriate agency. Mr Dokes also said the device was adaptable to all vehicles, good for all pubic transport and suitable for private or personal use as well.