Obey road safety rules and save lives - MTTU Commander

Police Chief Superintendent James Sarfo-Peprah, Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor Transport Traffic Unit (MTTU), has called on drivers to obey road traffic regulations to minimize the numerous road crashes.

He said the police were their best to ensure that crashes and fatalities are brought under control across the country but because of some deviant behavior by some drivers their efforts remained fruitless.

The MTTU commander said any driver who would violate road traffic regulations if caught would be dealt with according to the laws of the land.

Chief Superintendent Sarfo-Peprah, who is also the acting Akyem Oda Divisional Police Commander, was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after a familiarization meeting with leaders of all transport unions at Akyem Oda on Friday.

He expressed concern about the number of road crashes recorded in the region last year saying the situation was unacceptable.

Chief Superintendent Sarfo-Peprah also took the opportunity to educate drivers on the new Road Traffic Regulations 2012 (LI 2180) and urged them to be familiar with the law in order not to violate.

He appealed to police officers to enforce road traffic laws without fear or favour since it is that which could ensure safety of citizens on the road.

“The numbers of lives that are lost on the highways are such that we cannot afford to ignore the road traffic laws and that the police will go all out to ensure a drastic reduction in road accidents from this year,” he said.

Chief Superintendent Sarfo-Peprah said police personnel would always insist that drivers put up right behaviour on the road, adding that would arrest and prosecute drivers, irrespective of their status, who drive while speaking on phones or driving without wearing their seatbelts.

A total of 359 people lost their lives through road accidents in the Eastern Region between January and December 2012, as against 270 people killed during the same period in 2011.