Make road accidents topmost security concern – Irbard

Bringing down motor accidents should be the number one security priority of the country, security analyst Irbard Ibrahim has said.

According to him, road accidents kill more Ghanaians daily and should be a greater concern to the country than possible attacks by terrorist groups.

Mr Ibrahim’s comment comes on the heels of twin accidents that happened on Sunday 12 March at Apam and Sunyani, killing a total of 19 people.

Speaking on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM on Monday 13 March, he said: “People talk of ‘galamsey’ and proliferation of arms, but road accidents cause the loss of more lives than any of these security threats and even more than HIV/AIDS. Therefore, the number one security priority of this country should be how to curb road accidents rather than think of how Boko Haram or Al Shabaab will attack us.

“Week in, week out, month in and month out, we lose dozens of lives to road accidents.”

He further noted that corruption at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) could not be ruled out as a major cause of accident and advised passengers to resort to travelling long distances on vehicles that are registered with recognised companies.

“Only board labelled buses whose companies are traceable and whose drivers can be held accountable. And again the sheer corruption in the system – people cut corners, some of these vehicles are not roadworthy but you dash some GHS100 or GHS200 to the person sitting at the DVLA and you are free to go,” he added.

Mr Ibrahim bemoaned the situation where drivers are not prosecuted for the loss of lives when accidents occur. He said: “If my aunty or granny takes a bus and dies in an accident, whom do I charge? How do I press charges? Let’s not surrender everything to faith or destiny. Somebody is responsible for the death of the people who die in road accidents. We should be able to charge the driver and his company for the death, or injury, or mutilation of your relative.”