The butchers on our roads

A GNA Feature by Miss Anita Sackey (AIJC Intern)

Accra, Sept.9, GNA- It was a gory situation; a seller of herbal drugs, Abena Twumwaa of Akyem Kwaamang, met her untimely death at Akwatia, when a vehicle driven by a carpenter without driving experience knocked her down.

The vehicle then veered off the road and smashed into the chapel of the local Ebenezer Baptist Church, damaging the building. Emmanuel Ambaahikpieng, 24, the carpenter was said to have taken the vehicle without the knowledge and consent of the driver.

Not too long ago, three Urologists from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra and five others were killed in a motor accident on the Accra-Kumasi road, throwing Ghana into a mournful state.

Mr Archibald Kabutey Caesar, the President's nominee for District Chief Executive for Dangbe East, was killed in a tragic accident with his wife, Charlotte and 19-year old son, Katey.

The record of Ghana globally on the spate of accidents is chilling and intrinsically undeserving.

Ghana has been identified as the country likely to place third in global road traffic accidents by 2020, if nothing was done to reverse the frightening statistics.

A recent study in five African countries, including Ghana showed that whilst vehicle population had increase from 26 percent to 63 percent, road accidents had also risen from 15 per cent to as high as 70 per cent.

Giving an overview of the situation in Accra, Ms May Obiri-Yeboah, Planning /Education Manager said six persons were killed in road accidents daily and one out of six registered vehicle was recorded in an accident case.

She said 43 per cent of persons killed annually were pedestrians and 21 per cent of those deaths involved children below the age of 16 years. Seventy per cent or persons killed were males. The country recorded 127,182 road accidents between 1991-2004 in which 17,126 deaths were reported.

The vehicle population is estimated to increase to 1.2 million in 2010, and 12,000 persons could be killed in road accidents whilst more than 40,000 people would be injured.

The Ghana Health Service has recorded the highest average road accident fatality rate in 10 years.

According to Mr Ebo Hammond, Head of the Transport Management Unit of the service, at least seven major accidents have been recorded this year.

Mr Victor Tandoh, Commanding Officer of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) was however, optimistic that but for the sudden rise in incidents of motor accidents in August, 2005 would have recorded fewer motor accidents than 2004.

He said the first half of this year (January to June), recorded 9,762 accidents, with 690 casualties as against 10,020 accidents with 975 deaths for the same period in 2004.

"This sudden rise in August might not help the third quarter", he said.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Tandoh attributed the spate of the carnage on the roads mainly to the human factor, lack of concentration or attentiveness, over-speeding, drunk driving, and fatigue.

"We still want to believe that drivers have to be patient, the funny aspect is that the good roads are rather promoting accidents." Mr Tandoh observed the imbalance between the increasing number of vehicles on the few roads, which contributed to traffic congestion, but said, that was no excuse for drivers to move on the sideways and over-speed on highways to make up for lost time in traffic. " We need to adjust ourselves and cooperate with the Police in bringing the situation under control," he said.

He identified the Abeka Lapaz, the St. John's Road at Achimota, and the road to the Ofankor Barrier as some accident dark spots in Accra.

Mr Tandoh said the Police suspended the practice of sending drivers to the classroom to teach them rudiments of road regulations when they were arrested because it was realised that most of the drivers had offended traffic rules many times and had been made to undergo the same exercise several times.

On stiffer punishments for recalcitrant drivers, he asked: " The Prisons are already full, what kind of stiffer punishment?" He however said, under Section eight of the Legislative Instrument 1663 of 1999, any driver arrested under the influence of alcohol, dangerous and reckless driving would have his licence seized and would only be given back when the driver had been retested and cleared by the Licensing Authority.

Reversing the tragic situation that is threatening a permanent national havoc is the need for strict enforcement of the law and to set the right example.

It was therefore relieving that the Western Regional Command of the MTTU had embarked on a special exercise to check indiscipline on the roads especially by private car users.

The Regional MTTU Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Victor Adunasah said the exercise was to complement previous operations that centred on commercial cars.

" Indiscipline has crept unto the roads and this must be halted immediately," he noted.

The Department of Urban Roads, in collaboration with other institutions, has also announced plans to ban articulated trucks from parking along roads in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis. Mr. Stephen Attipoe, the Urban Roads Maintenance Engineer who was addressing journalists said apart from the dangers these trucks loaded with cocoa and other good pose to other road users they also spill oil on the roads, thereby reducing their lifespan.

Mr Henry Quansah, General Manager at the Odorna Welfare Branch of Ghana Private Road Transport Union, has also stressed the need for drivers and their mates to be educated on the civil rights of the public to avoid tension and confrontation between passengers on one hand and drivers and their mates on the other. He explained that such confrontations were not good for both groups either at the lorry parks or on vehicles. Mr Quansah said such confrontations on vehicles disrupted the driver's concentration and could lead to accidents.

Eradicating road accidents in Ghana would certainly be an impossible task is an over delayed national sustainable campaign to minimise the accident rate and the earlier the better. Limbs ands souls lost through accidents were just too much for Mother Ghana to accept. 09 Sept. 05