EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the National Road Safety Commission, May Obiri-Yeboah (Mrs.) has called on all road users to embrace positive attitudes during the last quarter of the year.
She added that it is in this period that they normally record the highest number of traffic crashes and appealed to pedestrians to be responsible when using the road, saying �the trend shows that, the last quarter of every year was stressful for road traffic crashes. As pedestrians we must be responsible when using the road.�
Addressing the media in Accra yesterday, Mrs. Obiri-Yeboah urged passengers to speak up against unsafe vehicles and any driver misbehavior which she believed could help prevent some unnecessary deaths on the roads.
�Unfortunately we are in this situation because we take pleasure in providing excuses, blaming the other and disregarding our own laws forgetting the impact our absence or injuries may have on our dependents and our families,� she mentioned.
She disclosed that a total of 10,061 cases of road traffic crashes involving 15,600 vehicles resulting into 1,441 deaths and 8,802 injuries had been recorded between January and September this year.
She said even though the statistics indicated a reduction of traffic crashes and death over the same period last year, the commission must improve in their activities in order to achieve their targets under the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety.
She was of the view that the level of road consciousness among road users must be improved and has called on institutions to help achieve their goal, stating �we call on institutions with a duty to enhance public safety to increase their actions of road safety.�
Mrs. Obiri-Yeboah, however, noted that their main challenge was the translation of road safety awareness messages to encourage road user attitude and behaviour.
On his part, the Director General of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), DCOP Angwubutoge Awuni indicated that his department remained motivated to enforce the law as the year nears to an end and has cautioned road users to desist from road indiscipline.
�Motorists who have chosen the path of indiscipline on our roads should better advice themselves because we shall descend on them,� he said.
He added that MTTD together with other stakeholders would intensify road side checks to ensure that vehicles that come onto the road meet some of the basic use requirements. He later expressed concern about the disregard of traffic regulation by motor riders and has promised that the police will do its best to stop this practice in the interest of road safety.
DCOP Awuni further urged Ghanaians to help the police in dealing with road offenders by reporting drivers or riders who go against the road and traffic rules.
Also addressing the press, the Chief Executive of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Rudolph Beckley disclosed that the Authority was leading efforts to implement the seatbelt regulations as a mean of reducing secondary collision.
�The seatbelt is an important safety device that is found in vehicles in all modern communities. It is a requirement and we will not relent on our efforts to improve its usage,� he observed.
He indicated that the DVLA through the public private partnership was testing systems to allow some improvements in the condition or vehicles before crediting them as road worthy.
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