Editorial : Ghanaians woke up yesterday morning to be greeted with the news of a gruesome accident that occurred around 5:30am at Kyekyewere, near Teacher Mante, along the Nsawam-Kumasi highway.
Ten persons died on the spot, with over 50 others injured. Less than an hour later, another person was reported dead. At the time of piecing together this editorial, three others had been reported dead, bringing the total number of the departed to 14.
Under the caption, “14 persons dead, over 50 others injured in gory accident at Kyekyewere,” the story had it that a DAF cargo truck, believed to be heading towards Burkina Faso, burst a tyre causing the driver to lose control of the steering.
The vehicle subsequently veered off its lane and crashed into two buses, an STC and another fully loaded, with passengers from Kumasi to Accra.
The Chronicle extends its heart-felt condolences to the bereaved families and hopes that nothing of the sort would happen again.
Indeed, this is not the first time a report of this nature has been recorded in this country. There have been worse situations.
On January 15, this year, two coaches, one from Accra and the other from Takoradi, collided at midnight at Dompoase, near Komenda along the Cape Coast-Takoradi highway, killing 29 persons on the spot and injuring several others. Five others died later.
Available statistics show that between 1991 and 2018, the lives of 46,284 Ghanaians were lost through motor accidents. This means that on the average, 1,714 commuters are killed every year in the country.
The Chronicle wishes to commend road safety campaigners for their efforts to bring sanity on our roads. However, the paper is of the opinion that their efforts are not good enough, judging from the figures mentioned above.
One cannot deny the fact that the rate at which motor or road accidents are destroying lives and properties in Ghana is immeasurable.
The paper suggests that the state must put in place measures that would help reduce the carnage on our roads, if, as a nation, we are to win the fight against road accidents.
The state must empower the Ghana Police Service to enforce road safety legislations to the letter without fear of favour. Drivers who, as a result of their negligence, cause the deaths of Ghanaians must be prosecuted and penalised severely.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) must also deliver on its mandate by ensuring that those who are not fit to drive on our roads are denied licenses to do so.
A number of drivers this paper has spoken to admitted that most of the accidents on our roads are a result of tiredness on their part.
To this end, the paper is calling on the state to come up with legislation that would ensure that all commercial buses and trucks employ two drivers, so that they can interchange when one is tired.
Furthermore, The Chronicle wishes to state that the government must ensure that the accident-prone roads, which are Accra-Kumasi-Bolgatanga and Accra-Takoradi-Elubo stretches, are dualised as soon as possible.
It is no secret that there is too much darkness on our roads. The way long vehicle and big truck drivers drive on our roads also leave much to be desired.
At night they refuse to dip their headlights blinding others coming from the opposite direction, resulting in avoidable accidents.
It would, therefore, be appropriate for the state to provide streetlights on our highways to illuminate our roads for clearer vision when driving at night.
Additionally, the state must ensure that there are markings on all our roads to make driving easy for all and sundry.
The post These road accidents must stop appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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