One hundred and three persons (103) died through 323 recorded road crashes in the Brong Ahafo Region from January to June this year with 472 people sustaining various degree of injuries.
Mr. Daniel Wuaku, Regional Manager of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) made this known on Friday whilst giving an overview of the Commission’s activities in the area at a mid-year conference of the NRSC at Fumesua, near Kumasi.
The two-day conference on theme: “Assessing the road safety agenda to reduce Road Traffic Crashes, fatalities and injuries by 23 per cent in 2012” is being attended by the regional managers of the Commission.
Mr. Wuaku attributed some major causes of road crashes in the region to drunk-driving, unnecessary overtaking and speeding, as well as careless driving and basic human errors.
He said curbing road crashes was a shared responsibility and that is why the Commission is collaborating with other key actors including Ghana National Fire Service, Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) and Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service to implement road safety strategies.
Mr. Wuaku said there is the need for the Commission to collaborate with transport unions to monitor and encourage adherence to standards for commercial road transport passenger service operators and trip pre-departure checks.
He noted that without the effective collaboration of the public, efforts to reduce road crashes would be meaningless.
Mr. Wuaku said the Commission has procured a land in Sunyani to construct a regional office.
He appealed to the Judiciary and the Police to ensure that harsh sentences are imposed on drivers who flout road safety regulations.
The Regional Manager asked the DVLA to help weed out drivers without licenses.
Mr. Noble Appiah, Executive Director of the NRSC advised the managers to be proactive and innovative in road safety education.
He said road crashes continue to cause huge losses to the economy and appealed to the relevant institutions and key actors in the road sector to renew their commitment to bring the incident to the barest minimum.
Mr. Appiah advised road users to be very careful and observe road signs at all times.**
