According to her, the rampant use of motor cycles has contributed to the high rate of accidents in the nation.
Speaking in an interview on Radio Gold, Mrs. 0biri Yeboah blamed motor riders for the high death toll in the country and appealed to the appropriate authorities to ban the practice since it is a menace to public safety.
To her, the use of motor cycles for commercial purposes, popularly known as Okada business, “is not safe at all. And in fact, countries that have also had this Okada issue, Nigeria etc. All of them have told us through the West African Road Safety organization that we should not legalize this because they are finding it difficult to even regulate them in their countries.”
She noted that the commercialization of motor cycles has contributed to over 7.8% of the accident death toll in the nation.
She therefore advised road users to be wary of their activities in order to reduce the death rate in Ghana.
She explained that statistics has shown that in 2001, 29 people died per 10000 vehicles involved in road crashes but due to the sensitization programme the Commission together with the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) and the Police Service did, the rate of accidents reduced to 18 people per 10000 vehicles in the year 2011.
She outlined some safety precautions that road users should adopt, entreating them to “board vehicles at designated lorry parks because we have been having programmes with these drivers and I’m sure they are putting in place safety measures so that they can protect you the passenger as you go on their vehicles. We should not go for those vehicles that just by the road sides and calling up for passengers because most of them are not safe.”
She further intimated that the NRSC is teaming up with the various stakeholders to roll out some campaign programmes to make the Easter break, incident-free.
“We are intensifying our campaigns at the lorry park because when passengers are travelling, a lot of times, they do not know that they have the right to ensure that they arrive at their places of abode safely. And therefore we are intensifying our campaigns over there, so that we empower the passengers. Tell them their rights so that if a driver should misbehave whilst they are on their journey, they can report the driver to the police,” she said.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
No comments:
Post a Comment