Accidents have become a constant feature on Ghana’s roads and the deaths they cause have been on a steady rise over the last five years.
Irresponsible behaviour on the part of drivers has largely been blamed for many accidents, especially those described as ‘avoidable’.
To help detect such irresponsible behaviour before they lead to accidents, Million Solutions Ghana, a Ghanaian tech company dedicated to solving societal problems with technology, has developed a mobile app which encourages the ordinary Ghanaian to be conscious of safety.
When the app is officially connected to all security agencies and safety-concerned organisations, a driver over-speeding, drunk-driving, or driving recklessly may be reported, via the app, to the nearest patrol police officer or station within a 10-metre radius and action would be taken immediately.
The group of young Ghanaians believes the app – made in Ghana, by Ghanaians and for Ghanaians – will contribute positively to society.
The Head of Marketing at Million Solutions Ghana, Celestine Asumah, was optimistic that the app would significantly contribute to minimising road accidents in the country.
“Citi just recently launched a campaign on discipline on roads and our app, which is RoadTop, is actually in line with this. But not just with what Citi is doing but any other thing that talks about roads or discipline on roads. Because our app is looking at, on the whole, solving all accident issues, with road accident being the top, that’s why we have a speedometer. So this does not actually segregate itself from one campaign but it’s for every other campaign that is on road accidents.
For his part, the Head of Software Development at Million Solutions Ghana, Frederick Oti Mensah, stressed on the need for all security agencies and safety-concerned organisations to partner with them.
“ We’re doing paperwork and we’re pushing them to get on board. We are now telling Ghanaians about it and it’s a good solution we’re providing. So if someone wants to send a report and then the police or the law enforcement agencies are not on board yet, or for some reason they decide not to come on board or work with us, we are providing solutions and that is what our goal is and that is what we are going to do all the time.
So, we are going to receive those reports and then we will do a follow up on every report because when you send a report, it comes to us and then we forward it to them; that is how the algorithm is designed to be, which means, we have some of the reports in our possession. So if they are not boarding, we will currently be managing the reports that are coming in from users,” he said.
The RoadTop Mobile App allows citizens to create accounts and then report traffic offenders they come across in very simple and easy steps.