<<Print>>

It is sometimes difficult knowing where to pin responsibility for poor road repair s as there is a lot of buck passing. However, whatever body is responsible for maintaining our road has to be more duty conscious. Naturally, the Highway Authority would be expected to ensure that the roads are regularly checked to be effected on them.Lack of proper road maintenance gives rise to accidents which are very often fatal. In many cases when vehicle capsize, it results in the goods they carry getting damage, breaking or getting totally ruined. This hold up progress in establishments and this may surely have chain of reactions that eventually hamstring over development programmes. Prompt action on bad patches of our roads could save lives, money and materials. NIGHTMARE In Accra, the road problem is often tremendous. In fact, a veritable nightmare to many motorists. It is a matter of colossal and their staff paid to superintend our roads and keep them in good motorable condition, sit most comfortably in their cosy offices and allow motorists to go through excruciating experiences on our roads. There superintendents don�t give a thought to be high prices of spare-parts, and the fact that money is hard to come by. Road accidents bring about numerous costs to developing countries. Miscellaneous costs arising out of such accidents include towing the vehicles, loss of productivity. Medical costs include burden on hospital beds, hospital staff, the rehabilitation of accident victim and visit victim in hospital and funeral costs. The Kaneshie MTTU recorded many accidents in which a number of vehicles were complete write � offs. This leads to the purchase of new vehicle or parts which involves the use of foreign exchange. This also affects the foreign exchange situation in the country and with an added consequence on the balance of payment. The net effect is that, the foreign currency which could have been used for economic developments are utilized for the replacement of partially or totally destroyed vehicles. Although numerically, Ghana�s road accident casualties are alarming, they are perhaps not as high as reports portray them elsewhere. In the United States for example, 46,000 people die a year in motor accidents and about 1.7 million suffer disability injuries, these accidents cost that country approximately US$40 million annually. It is regrettable that careless, negligence and reckless on the part of some motorists and some road users continue to cause unnecessary accidents that are avoidable and for this reason the National Road Commission and MTTU have intensified their activities to educate the general public and motorists in particular on the prevention of road accidents. The characteristics of road accidents in the country confirms that accidents are no respecter of persons. They affected people of all ages with difficult levels of education and from all walks of life. The causes of the numerous road accidents can be attributed to carelessness on the part of some drivers, disregard to other to other users of the road, over speeding, overloading, lack of maintenance of vehicles, drunkenness drug abuse and of course the deteriorating condition of our roads. Another major cause of road accident is tiredness of drivers, some of whom drive for longer hours than permitted by law. Some drivers know they are being over-worked by their vehicle owners but if they refuse to follow instructions, they face the real threat of suspension or even being sacked. All this means that the effective regulation of driving hours is more than it has ever been. Drivers must be protected from the high sales demand of their bosses, who in turn must be protected from competitive pressures from their rivals to cut safety margins. Even though accident are responsible for more deaths in the world today than any other single because not all accidents are accidental. The prime causes of accident are largely due to ignorance of the law and immaturity on part of the drivers. A driver may be inexperience or his faculties may be dimmed by drugs, illness or overwork. The result is lack of attention to traffic rules; parking in a curve, ignoring traffic signs or abandoning a break down vehicle on the road. Mechanical condition of vehicle and dodging of pot holes also contribute to road accidents. Drivers must not overtake unless they are sure it is safe for themselves and others. Before overtaking, one must ensure that the next lane is clear from behind and ahead (use your minor). Remember that traffic may be coming up behind much quickly than you think. Signal before you move out; be particularly careful at dusk and in mist, when it is more difficult to judge speed and distance. INSPECTION There is the need for any defensive driver to undertake periodic defect inspection on their steering, chassis, breaking systems, electrical systems and tyres. Maintenance has a positive relationship with accidents. Admittedly, maintenance is more expensive and costly. Over � loading also affects the stability and mechanical conditions of the vehicle. How many of us check our tyres before we begin our journeys. There is a vast relationship between the state of tyres and speed. If tyres are in poor shape and subject to excessive speed, with continuous friction on the road, the tyres will burst resulting in accident. Motorist should also remember that wrong alignment at balancing can be dangerous to life, therefore check for proper balancing of tyres after each rotation. If your car swerves when braking, you need to have your tyres well-checked. Wheels out of alignment and balancing can either cause excessive tyre wear and mechanical damage or cause excessive vibration which may damage your vehicle suspension and result in accident. When the traffic law enforcement agency closes its eyes on rampant violations, the discipline on our roads and highway cannot simply be achieved. On the other hand, traffic law enforcement, it totally sustained; and if discipline is to be achieved, it must be forcefully applied along proper road safety education. The law enforcement agencies should clamp down on those who deal in fake reflectors as well as those who buy them. Also, timber trucks which have been causing great havoc on the roads should be prevented from carrying more than three logs timber on their truck and the logs should be securely chained up. Similarly, trucks carrying charcoal should respect the ��gross weight and height�� authorise by law on their vehicles and not overload their vehicle until their centres of gravity shift, making it easy for them to shed their loads onto the high way of hapless on -coming traffic. In fact this regulation should be rigorously enforced. A well-trained driver will plan his journey before he sets out. His planning before the journey will include checking the route, the mechanical efficiency of the vehicle and his easement of the situation, will be deliberated but will be carried out quickly and accurately. The overriding consideration will be the safety of the passengers, others roads users and drivers and the driver himself. Only a driver who is fully aware of the condition around him can successfully negotiate hazards. The easier he can sense a hazard, the more time he will have to take corrective action using road sense concentration and force thought. At all times, awareness on the road enable the defensive driver to interpret any mind and takes the best decision. Accident data establishes that pedestrian accident constitutes about 45 percent of national total. About two-third of the pedestrian fatality and injury occur during crossing of the road. The evidences t suggest that there is increasing usage of pedal cycle both adult and children.