A computer software programme, specially designed for defensive driving, was on Thursday launched in Accra with a call on Ghanaian technologists, engineers and scientists to develop software packages suitable to the local environment.
Mr Kwaku Agyeman Adu, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications-designate, said the packages would, however, have to be patronised by the beneficiaries, in order to generate funds to support further technological development.
Drivewell Software, invented by Mr Cecil Ekow Garbrah, Executive Director of Toptec Drive Consult Ltd (TTDC), and implemented by the Ministry of Transport and Communications in conjunction with TTDC aims at educating every road user on all aspects of motoring.
Users of the software would consist of pupils from the primary school to students at the tertiary level.
Mr Agyeman Adu expressed the ministry's appreciation for the effort and said it is in line with the general training program of the government's mass transportation policy.
He said since the policy would involve the importation of various buses and transport systems, "the Ghanaian must be educated in safe and defensive driving."
He added that this makes the software programme most welcome. Mr Agyeman Adu assured prospective investors in the transport and communications sector that they would be assisted with all the technical and administrative support they will need.
Professor Dominic K. Fobih, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, in a speech read on his behalf, said among the various causes of accidents are the poor state of vehicles as well as bad driving practices.
He said poor driving practices are the result of most drivers not undergoing formal training.
"One often hears of situations where people obtain their driver's licence without undergoing examination of any type."
Professor Fobih said the software cannot make one a good driver, unless the prospective driver uses it according to how it is intended to be used.
He said drivers would first have to be prepared to learn and understand the working of the software in order to gain from it.
