The National Road Safety Commission has said the passage of the Road Safety Authority Bill will mean more than a change in name for the commission.
Parliament, on Tuesday, passed the National Road Safety Authority Bill which when assented to, will give the commission additional responsibility of regulating road safety related standards among others.
[contextly_sidebar id=”NGyZW15JXwbL4hCpaMETYALou2D5J3Hi”]Public Relations Officer of the NRSC, Nana Konduah told Citi News the commission will use its new status to regulate and improve Ghana’s road safety.
“We work with a number of stakeholder institutions both private and public, many of whom are guided by existing safety standards and procedure. We do a lot of research, there is a lot of knowledge around but when you make critical observations the best you can currently do is to just advise.”
“You make a recommendation, they are not carried out and your hands are tied. So we thought it wise to re-engineer the existing law to grant us the permission and the mandate to be able to demand compliance. It is something that we have laboured for, for a long time. So you can’t imagine that we not using the law,” he said.
The law, if assented to by President Nana Akufo-Addo, will transform the National Road Safety Commission into an Authority to better regulate activities in the road transport sector.
The Commission believes that the change of status will empower it to play a major role in coordinating and ensuring safety on our roads.
The Bill was worked on by the Road and Transport Committee of Parliament and the committee’s Chairman, Samuel Aye-Paye, outlined the importance of the development to Citi News.
“It is important we get a regulator that will be regulating the road safety activities in this country, therefore, the need to have the National Road Safety Authority.”
The legislator noted that the National Road Safety Authority will also be able to keep a closer eye on the standards being enforced by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).