Drivers in the country have been advised to be cautious on the road and exercise due diligence while driving to help prevent accidents during and after the festive seasons.

The Corporate Communications Manager of Vivo Energy, Shirley Tony Kum who gave the advice, said it was necessary they drove with diligence to help reduce the many accidents on the roads.

She stated that it was unfortunate that many of the drivers do not have first aid kits in their vehicles, let alone not having to apply medical care to passengers during accidents or emergencies and reiterated the need to have such basic kits coupled with due diligence to ensure their own safety and that of passengers.

Mrs Shirley Tony Kum gave the advice at the launch of the 2023 Stop, Think and Drive Road Safety campaign initiated by Vivo Energy in collaboration with the National Roads Safety Authority and Transporters in Koforidua on Wednesday.

The launch of the campaign was aimed at building the capacity of motorists to improve road user behaviour and reduce the risks of involvement in road accidents.

As part of the campaign, participants were taken through a refresher defensive driving training course and were equipped with basic first aid skills in administering medical care to passengers during accidents or in case of emergencies.

Mrs Shirley Tony Kum revealed that provisional statistics from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service indicated that Road Traffic Crashes, Injuries and Deaths (CID) saw a consistent month-on-month reduction in 2022 ending the year with 14, 960 crashes, 15, 690 Injuries and 2,373.

“Deaths representing 7.55%, 1.54% and 20.11% reductions respectively, compared to the year 2021,” she added.

She believed that the initiative has contributed significantly to the reduction in the observed CIDs and should be sustained, hence the launch in the Koforidua to train more drivers.

The Corporate Communications Manager advised the drivers to be careful on the roads and drive with caution to ensure their safety and that of their passengers.

The Eastern Regional Manager of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Nana Akua Ansaah Cobbinah said research has shown that most road accidents and their associated fatalities were caused by human error, poor mechanical maintenance, bad road and bad weather conditions.

She again noted that 96 per cent of accidents were caused by human error, and reiterated the need to educate drivers on road safety to urge them to obey road traffic rules as well as ensure that they drive safely.

“We have also educated the drivers on maintaining their vehicles so that they will be for use,” she said and added that training would impact knowledge on road safety issues to enable them to drive well during and after the festive season.

The Principal Industrial Relations Officer at the GPRTU in the Eastern Region, Alhaji Salifu Alhassan said one of the causes of road accidents in the region was bad roads and therefore appealed to the government to expedite action on roads which were under construction, adding that due to the bad nature of road, drivers have to resort to alternative roads making driving difficult.

He stated that the festive season was the time drivers conveyed more passengers to their various destinations and added that the training would make them more cautious on the roads. 

From Ama Tekyiwaa Ampadu Agyeman, Koforidua

Picture Caption

The drivers being sensitised by the Eastern Regional Manager of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Nana Akua Ansaah Cobbinah