The National Road Safety Commission must lead all strategies and campaigns to reduce the rising spate of motor accidents on Ghana’s roads.
This is the view of public safety analyst and Executive Director of the Bureau of Public Safety, Nana Yaw Akwada
[contextly_sidebar id=”nhWW5syEfcj9FiGHzRg8zzG1lUkzD4La”]He said although ensuring safety of roads require concerted efforts from different stakeholders, the National Road Safety Commission in Ghana’s case, must play a leading role to achieve the desired results.
While speaking on Citi TV‘s The Point of View on Monday, Mr. Akwada expressed excitement about plans of government to fastback processes to make the Road Safety Commission an Authority which will give them more control and authority in the space.
“The whole world over, road safety issues are managed through a collaboration of various stakeholders or state agencies so we cannot just narrow the whole thing down but for who to lead, it should be the National Road Safety Commission.”
The issue about the safety of the country’s roads has gained prominence in national discourse following the death of at least 70 people on Friday in two separate road accidents including one that saw dozens of trapped passengers burnt beyond recognition due to a fire from the crash.
There have been various proposals including calls for dualization of all highways, installation of speed inhibitors to prevent vehicles from running beyond a certain speed level and use of two drivers during travels of over 4 hours long.
But Nana Yaw Akwada said the discussions and various considerations being made following the unfortunate incidents must not stop at mere utterances but must be backed with action and implementation of regulations.
“We are happy that they are now going to be an authority. My worry is that when such things happen then we start throwing in all kind of proposals and then we end up doing nothing. There are some basic stuff we must do.”
He stressed that the country’s roads will be safer if regulation 163 and 125 of the Road Safety Act are adhered to.
“If the state can implement regulation 125 which talks about continuous driver education and regulation 163 which talks about speeding, these two will be able to help us achieve the desired results,” he said.
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By: Jonas Nyabor | citinewsroom.com | Ghana