Suhyen residents demand speed ramps after witnessing constant pedestrian knockdowns

Residents of Suhyen, a farming community in the New Juaben North Municipality of the Eastern Region, have called on the Ghana Highways Authority to construct speed ramps to curb pedestrian knockdowns in the community.

The call for the construction of ramps to check speed of motorists followed constant pedestrian knockdowns being witnessed by residents over the years.

Some people who spoke to the Ghana News Agency said, over the years, the community had witnessed numerous road accidents and pedestrians being hit and killed by motorists while crossing the road.

The inhabitants, therefore, appealed to the highway authority to construct speed ramps at pedestrians’ major crossing joints to compel motorists regulate their speed.

Nana Okogyeaman Ankomah Basapon, Chief of Suhyen, told GNA that he had made countless appeals to the authorities of the Municipal Assembly and other higher authorities for the construction of ramps, but all requests fell on deaf ears.

He noted that most of the death and injury cases had been recorded from hit-and-run drivers, adding, those mostly affected were the aged and children, particularly school children, because of their vulnerabilities or lack of agility to swiftly cross the road.

The Chief said the community contributed resources to adopt local ways that would help slow down speeding motorists and reduce the risk of knocking down people, but had not been successful.

He, therefore, called on officials of the Ghana Highway Authority and the Municipal Assembly to intervene and put up a standard ramp to solve the problem once and for all to prevent needless deaths.

Meanwhile, statistics from the Eastern Regional Police Motor traffic and Transport Department show that in 2020, around 425 lives were lost through road accidents in the Region.

This included 109 pedestrians who were knocked down and killed by motorists.