Citi FM/TV in May 2019 launched a campaign to highlight the chaos widespread on our roads among motorists and other road users.
According to the National Road Safety Commission, which seeks to promote safer roads for pedestrians and motorists, between 1991 and 2018, more than 41,000 people have lost their lives in various road crashes.
In January 2019 alone, more than 190 people lost their lives in one road crash or the other which further gave impetus to Citi FM/TV to adopt a name and shame campaign to ensure sanity on our roads.
The campaign dubbed War Against Indiscipline or #WAI has so far seen more than 500 drivers arrested at various parts of Accra having committed a number of traffic infractions. These drivers have either been fined or are facing trial to answer for the infractions.
But the question that has always been on the lips of many is whether this campaign is sustainable in the long run. It is a fair and legitimate question especially when there have been other similar causes which lost steam as time wore on.
Just so we are clear, the Citi TV team has said it is a-year-long campaign, and the expectation is that, having achieved the success it is recording now, the police and all relevant agencies will work to sustain it after the campaign. It should become our way of life that indiscipline on our roads is punished, no matter who you are. Indeed, there is no reason why they should not!
Given the impact the campaign has had so far on road traffic breaches and its potential impact on both motorists and pedestrians, it is appropriate that the relevant stakeholders mandated to ensure safer roads step up their game to continue the gains the Citi TV/FM campaign has chalked.
Clearly, there is little motivation on the part of the police and other agencies to step up their efforts to check errant drivers and motorists. Even where the motivation exists, the absence of speed cameras, functioning traffic lights or even mere street lights makes it near impossible to ensure the right thing is done at all time.
There is the need for government to explore other alternative cost-effective means of ensuring sanity prevails on our roads without unduly burdening the national purse. Indiscipline is a gold mine and if we are serious, the campaign to promote discipline on our roads can pay for itself.
In the past, we have seen in the delivery of public services like water and electricity, how the private sector can be called upon to help.
The Citi TV/FM campaign has in two months accrued more than GHS258,000 in fines to the state. This gives cause to have a broader approach to this campaign which does not only ensure drivers and motorists do the right thing, but also punishes bad behaviours through fines and possible jail time.
To make this sustainable, government through the relevant agency or agencies can engage a private company whose mandate would require investment into technology or other equipment that will allow the police to function effectively in aiding the arrest of wayward motorists.
Some of the immediate equipment that the company through a structured arrangement would invest in could be breathalysers, speed cameras and speed guns, etc. Clearly, these things are crucial in getting drivers to fall in line as they help preserve evidence for successful prosecution as well.
The private company that invests into these would have an added motivation to partner the police to recoup their investments. The State and the private company would agree on a revenue-sharing model that allows the company to rake in their monies invested and possibly interest as well, over a set period of time.
To ensure that police and other personnel deployed to bring to book wayward drivers and motorists are not undercutting or taking bribes to sabotage the system, the company can institute some form of a commission based on the successful prosecution of cases.
Besides the police and other security agencies engaged for this project, the private management company would also be providing a means of employment to a number of Ghanaians who would be recruited to undertake these checks.
The key deliverable from government in this arrangement will be to establish a number of fast track courts where possible, for the prosecution of some of these offences. Also, the private company could explore discussion on spot fines, so as to keep the courts from becoming congested.
In all, a successful implementation of this would deliver a safer road where road traffic accidents are brought in check as discipline is instilled in drivers while pedestrian knockdowns are also minimised.
Also, due to the involvement of the private company, government gets to achieve its targets when it comes to reducing traffic crashes while at the same time, this is achieved without an additional cost burden on the taxpayer.
If for nothing at all, the increasing number of lives lost on our roads year in year out should give government the necessary political will to see an initiative like this beyond the finish line.
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The writer, Richard Annerquaye Abbey, is a broadcast journalist with Citi FM/Citi TV