Mr. Joseph Kwesi Gbeze, Presiding Member, Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Assembly, has appealed to presiding members to use town hall meetings as a complementary platform to educate residents on road safety regulations.
“Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies must begin to upscale measure through which Zonal Council Members, and Unit Committee Members would be equipped to champion road safety campaigns within their jurisdictions.
“Road accidents have become very rampant in the country, so there is the need to pull on board all sectors and personalities to help ensure that we all understand the need to protect each other,” Mr Gbeze stated at the Ghana News Agency and Tema Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD) Road Safety campaign platform.
The GNA and MTTD Road Safety Advocacy seeks to create consistent and systematic weekly awareness for road users, educate road users on their responsibilities and sensitize drivers on road safety regulations, rules and laws.
Mr Gbeze advised motor cycle and tri-cycle riders to obtain the necessary protective gear including reflector, helmet, chin and knee guard and desist from creating nuissance on the road.
The Presiding Member for Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Assembly also appealed to the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) which is vested with the authority to discharge road safety campaign to rope in other stakeholders towards making the road a safe place for all.
Mr Gbeze commended the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Henry Quartey for instituting measures towards making Accra work again, stressing that the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Assembly through the leadership of Mr Solomon Tettey Appiah had domesticated the initiative.
He noted that the Ghana News Agency Road Safety campaign was in line with strategies being rolled-out by the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Assembly to ensure road safety in the municipality.
Mr Gbeze, therefore, pledged the commitment of the Assembly to support the GNA Road Safety Campaign; “road accidents affect all we must therefore join forces towards reducing incidents of accidents on our roads”.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, the Tema Regional Manager of the Ghana News Agency, urged Ghanaians to take personal responsibility while using the roads.
“When we are on the roads, the first line of safety is you, you must put your personal safety into your hands, don’t expect the driver to take charge of your life,” he added.
He said it was better to carefully adhere to the road regulations than being in hurry to cross the road to be involved in accidents.
Mr Ameyibor called on journalist to help and support the Security Services especially the MTTD and NRSC to raise awareness on road safety in the country.
Meanwhile MTTD data available to the GNA indicate that the number of private vehicles involved in road crashes in the Tema Region is on the rise.
Accident data for the first half of the year indicates that out of a total of 637 road crashes 445 were private vehicles. In the first quarter out of 344 road crashes private vehicles recorded 248 and in the second quarter out of 293 crashes private vehicles recorded 197.
The high rise in private vehicles involvement in road crashes is attributed to lack of regular check-up and maintenance.
