Passengers urged to speak up against reckless driving

Kasa for Safety, a road safety campaign powered by Impact Sync and the National Road Safety Authority, is encouraging vehicle passengers to speak up against reckless driving.

The initiative by the two agencies in collaboration with D-Prize, IREX, Star Oil, Peeva Drinks, the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, and TroTro Diaries is targeting passenger empowerment to demand improved driving on the country’s roads.

Road accidents do not only take lives but destroy families and societies. A total of 809 deaths and 4955 injuries resulting from 4503 as of March 2024 had been recorded in the country.

In an interview, the Team Lead of Impact Sync, Akosua Afriyie Osei-Appaw Mensah, expressed concern over the high number of deaths recorded and the seeming lack of coordination between drivers and passengers to save lives on our roads.

“Road safety is a shared responsibility. As passengers, we play a key role in influencing drivers to do the right thing on our roads. Do not be afraid to speak up against reckless driving safely and politely.”

Following an activation at the Odawna trotro station and the Madina station, all in Accra, the Technical Lead for Impact Sync, Yaw Tweneboah Kodua Odoom, was pleased with proceedings so far and encouraged passengers to take their safety into their own hands.

“Use your voice to protect yourself and others,” said Kodua.

So far, about 700 stickers have been pasted in 'trotros' in Accra with evocative messages encouraging passengers to be more active participants in road safety.

At the Odawna station, the Welfare Secretary of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union admonished the group for embarking on this journey. He expressed worry about how some passengers make the situation worse.

“Drivers and passengers are a team. We all have to work together for safer roads but sometimes, passengers can be very aggressive and disrespectful which can make the situation worse," said the official.

In a rather interesting twist of events at the Madina station, where the team was faced with rain all day, the team did not relent in engaging both drivers and passengers.

One passenger lamented “It is sometimes difficult telling the drivers they’re not driving safely. Your fellow passengers will shout at you and tell you to keep quiet”.

This is one of the many reasons this campaign has been initiated to bring to the fore the roles of each stakeholder.

To keep the excitement alive, weekly raffles are done to reward drivers who have these stickers in their cars. So far, some drivers have won car batteries and fuel coupons.

Speaking to journalists, the Team Lead of Impact Sync, Akosua Afriyie Osei-Appaw Mensah highlighted the need to replicate this initiative in other trotro stations in Accra by the end of August 2024.

“Our next stop is Tema Station on Saturday 3rd August, 2024. We have plans to go to the Ashanti and Western regions by the end of the year," said Akosua.