Road safety agencies question passenger safety on highways

Road safety agencies have mounted rigorous road traffic checks on the NI Highway and the Tema Motorway, spotting several flaws that require urgent action to guarantee passenger and pedestrian safety.

The governing boards and management of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) and the Driver, Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) with the Police carried out the checks on Wednesday that revealed engineering, social and behavioural problems along the roads.

The visit comes a day after the NRSC launched the 2016 Easter Road Safety Campaign and announced measures to bolster its operations and clamp down on recalcitrant motorists to cut-down the growing rate of pedestrian and passenger casualties.

However, the road safety team raised questions it described as cogent which largely bordered on engineering, notably the absence of lane marking, emergence of multiple potholes, location of bill boards at road edges and improper positioning of sign posts.

Broken street light poles, many unapproved access routes, erection of unauthorised structures or kiosks closer to the roads that defied the 45 metres interval, bad drivers’ behaviours displayed in wrongful overtaking and driving on wrong lanes, were equally noted.

The team also observed several damaged and other vehicles parked along the road, mass hawking beyond toll booth entry points which made a board member to remark; “they (the hawkers) have turned this place into a whole market, this is a social problem but it is an enforcement problem too.”

The situation at the Kasoa Toll Booth was not different as children, men and women did brisk business at the peril of their lives with motorcycles crossing the booth with impunity as the law enforcement agents looked on helplessly.

A police officer was caught at Kings Cottage police post opening emergency access route gate for commercial and private vehicles, prompting the road safety agencies to raise questions about enforcement of road traffic regulations.

Mrs May Obiri-Yeboah, the NRSC Executive Director, told the Ghana News Agency that the Ghana Highway Authority ought to work on the engineering flaws including lane marking, filling of potholes and closing of unauthorised access routes.

The law enforcement agencies needed to step up their efforts, she said, and called on the various local assemblies to support the security services to deal with the problem of hawking along toll booths and under traffic lights.

She recalled a fatal accident that occurred last year at one of the booths killing several hawkers on the spot, and said the Commission’s ongoing safety advocacy ought to be complemented by all.

Mr Cheyuo Wiennaa Musa, the Director of Driver Training, Testing and Licensing at the DVLA, said intensifying law enforcement on the roads, public education and ensuring strict adherence to engineering guidelines would go a long way to maintain discipline and avert carnage.

He said traffic signs ought to be consistent, while demarcations along the edges must be done to prevent drivers from veering off their lanes, particularly during the night and raining periods.

Mr Federick Aduagyei, the Chief Engineer at the Ghana Highway Authority, acknowledged the recommendations and assured the team that both short and long term measures would be initiated to rectify the problem.

He said some actions and initiatives had already been taken to correct some of the faults noted on the NI Highway and the Tema Motorway including the construction of an overpass and reconstruction of the motorway.