Key stakeholders sign Road Safety Action Plan

Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, Inspector General of Police (IGP) has called for concerted efforts by stakeholders in the road sector to reduce road crashes in the country.

He said he did not believe in the use of an enforcement approach in educating the public on road safety issues as a way of solving the problem on road crashes, but rather a more scientific and pragmatic approach to achieve the desired results.

The IGP was addressing heads of key statutory agencies in the road sector at a signing ceremony of the Road Safety Action Plan in Accra on Wednesday.

Key stakeholders included the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Highways Authority, National Ambulance Service, Ghana Red Cross Society, Department of Urban Roads and the Department of Feeder Roads.

He said the document, which aimed at achieving the objectives of National Road Safety Strategy III (NRSS III) for 2011- 2020, must be responsive to the problems of road carnage, realistic, achievable, subject to verification and time bound.

Mr Quaye stressed on the need for effective partnership and commitment towards achieving the set goals, saying, the increasing rate of road crashes in the country were unacceptable and needed to be tackled with all seriousness with stakeholder’s involvement.

The NRSS II aims at attaining a 50 per cent reduction in road crashes by 2020, through the use of various interventions, which include ensuring the improvement of road network as well as road safety management systems in Ghana.

He indicated that although the Action Plan was not the first, the signing of the current one by all major stakeholders was a major headway to look at the issue in a more holistic manner and expressed the hope that the different approach to its implementation would yield positive outcomes.

Mr Noble J. Appiah, Executive Director, NRSC, explained that NRSS III, which had become the blue print for Ghana, sought to half fatalities of road crashes by 50 per cent, therefore, the action plan that was developed by the stakeholders themselves would provide clear cut strategies to support their activities, which would be subjected to evaluation over three months.

He said the strategy would target pedestrians, bus occupants and evaluations published on the NRSC websites and in the national dailies for public accountability.

Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister of Transport, who supervised the signing, expressed worry over the lack of commitment to implementation and enforcement of road safety regulations, adding that, government was concerned about the high rate of carnage on Ghana’s roads, therefore the launch of the NRSS III was to ensure that the problem was reduced to the barest minimum.

He cited interventions such as intensified public education on road safety measures and the purchase of towing vehicles to deal with the challenges of broken down vehicles on the roads.

“Despite the numerous education and interventions, some drivers continue to indulge in negative attitudes such as drunk-driving and making of mobile phone calls, while most are often highly temperamental, leading to road crashes."

Alhaji Dauda cautioned all road users to be responsible in their dealings with the approach of the Easter festivities and called for regular checks on the progress of the implementation of the Action Plan. **