Religious leaders urged to be Ambassadors of Road Safety

The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) has called on religious leaders to be ambassadors of the commission in their respective places of worship to support the road safety campaign to reduce road crashes.

Mr Dennis Yeribu, the Acting Upper East Regional Head of the Commission, made the appeal when his outfit spoke with the leaders and members of The Church of Pentecost in Bolgatanga during the Church’s lay leadership programme.

It was part of activities of the Commission to intensify the sensitisation drive on road safety and the need for people to observe traffic regulations.

Mr Yeribu who took the Church Congregation through some of the road and traffic signs, symbols and regulations that needed to be adhered to when plying the roads, indicated that religious leaders such as Pastors, Imams and traditional authorities had critical roles to play to ensure safety on the road.

He underscored the need for religious leaders to employ their wide influence to preach peace at their various gatherings and educate their members on the importance of complying with road safety regulations.

He said human errors including; carelessness, disregard for safety regulations, overloading, excessive speeding and alcoholism were major causes of road crashes in the region leading to loss of lives particularly the youth.

He advised the people to employ defensive driving techniques and use their crash helmets at all times to avoid fatalities whenever there was an accident.

Provisional statistics, he said showed that within the period of January to June, 2019, 118 crashes involving 182 vehicles were recorded in the region, with 79 representing 43.4 per cent being motorcycles.

Out of the crashes recorded within the two quarters, 43 persons including; 33 men and 10 females were killed in the process and according to the Acting Regional Head, majority of the fatalities involved young people.

He said the situation if not tackled collectively would get worse and the region would lose many breadwinners and energetic human resource.

Mr Enock Ayim, the Head Pastor of the Church of Pentecost, Bukere branch, thanked the officials from the NRSC for extending the educational campaign to his outfit and admonished the congregation to apply the knowledge acquired particularly the use of crash helmets and compliance with traffic regulations to help reduce road crashes in the region.