We have on many occasions used our editorial comments to highlight the wanton loss of lives and injuries to people, due to road crashes, which is becoming alarming. We will like to once more make an urgent appeal to stakeholders to help stop the carnage on our roads.
We at Ghanaian Times are not enthused with the unenviable report that Ghana is one of the accident-prone countries on the African continent. This does not auger well for our social economic development, because it has heavy toll on Gross Domestic Product.
Undoubtedly, road crashes affect investment and trade, because lot of trading activities in the country and the West African sub region are carried out largely through road, which is the major transport system in view of absence of well-developed railway system.
In Ghana, when your loved one bids you farewell to embark on a journey, one needs to pray for God’s mercies for the safe arrival of the person to his or her destination.
We reported in Saturday April 14, edition of our newspaper of a total of 592 people having lost their lives through road crashes during the first quarter of the year, representing 11.70 percent increase over last year’s figure of 530 deaths recorded, during the same period last year.
What this means is that we are not achieving much in terms of reduction in road crashes, and therefore, we need to step up efforts in making our roads safe for driving.
The staff officer of the Moto Traffic and Transport Department of the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent Emmanuel Adu Boahen, who disclosed the startling road crash statistics, in Accra on Friday, said the crashes were needless if precautionary measures were observed.
We regret the gory road accidents that occurred in the Northern Region at the week end, resulting in the death of 16 people on the Yapei-Yapala stretch of the Tamale-Kumasi road, and two persons at Diare on the Tamale- Bolgatanga stretch.
We have observed that the Tamale -Kintampo stretch, which was constructed over two decade ago, needs safety measures to prevent carnage.
The recent road crash occurred at the same place where a 14 people died, in a similar manner, a few months ago.
Though damaged portions of the road have been fixed through periodic pot-hole patching, we believe that the road must have outlived its life span, and a serious rehabilitation must be carried out on the whole road.
We also wish to appeal to the Ghana Highway Authority, through its Road Safety and Environmental Division, to as a matter of urgency, consider installing solar system streetlights at the accident–prone sections of the road, to improve visibility to ensure safe driving.
Public education campaign must also be intensified to sensitise both motorists and pedestrians on the need to observe road safety precaution to avoid these needless and preventable deaths. Efforts to prevent road crashes must be a national emergency.
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