The Commanding Officer of the Greater Accra Regional Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD), DCOP Mr. Martin Ayiih, has advised drivers to avoid practices that increase the risk of road accidents in the country.

He said instead of attributing road crashes to the “work of the devil,” drivers must drive cautiously and observe road safety regulations as Christmas approaches.

Highlighting some safety measures, the police officer urged drivers to keep safe distances between vehicles and avoid the practice known in local parlance as ‘bumper-to-bumper’ driving.

DCOP Ayiih made the remarks at the launch of New Times Corporation (NTC) Road Safety Campaign dubbed “Road Safety in Ghana: Preserving Lives, Sustaining Our Nation,” on Wednesday in Accra.

Speaking on behalf of the Regional MTTD Director, he said drivers must “give sufficient information to other road users when vehicles encounter faults on the road.”

He said drivers must avoid drunk-driving and the use of mobile phones, adding that police surveillance cameras remained active in the city, therefore, drivers should drive responsibly so as not to be “caught in the web.”

“We must be conversant with the Highway Code which is the bible for the road. When you think that the policeman is not there the surveillance camera is the policeman.

“There are other things that do not directly contribute to accident on the road but they may disable other people you might come into contact with on the road. Do not wait until road certificates expire before you go and renew them,” he said.

Acknowledging the collective responsibility towards road safety, he said the police would offer the needed support to achieve the aims of the NTC road safety campaign.

Mr. Martin Adu Owusu, Managing Director of NTC, noted that road indiscipline had to be addressed from diverse perspectives hence the corporation’s partnership with stakeholders to tackle “acts of recklessness” on the road.

“If we begin to look back at the number of talents we have lost and the number of families that are traumatised in diverse ways due to irresponsible driving, we would begin to appreciate the urgent need to scale up our effort in fighting this canker.”

He said the road safety campaign was, therefore, one of the many initiatives intended to reduce the number of “unwarranted deaths on our roads.”

Engineer (Mrs) May Obiri-Yeboah, Director General, National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) noted that road crushes had adverse economic implications so the public should “exercise greater caution in the days leading to Christmas.”

Praising the Corporation for the initiative, she said that the launch was in line with the “Stay Alive Campaign” which sought to “induce positive behavioural change among road users.”

“Building a fatal free road system is not just an idea but it is an achievable vision and all of us including the media must be part of the campaign to realise this vision,” she said.

Mr. Alfred Koomson, Marketing Manager, NTC, also said the Corporation as state owned entity, had an obligation in the fight against road indiscipline hence the move to partner stakeholders to promote road safety from an “economic and emotional point of view.”

By Ernest Nutsugah & Priscilla Efriyie Ankapong,