Combating Road Accidents in Ghana

By Mawutodzi K.Abissath
There is this serious Akan proverb which can literally be interpreted to mean: “When the eyes are red, they do not explode into conflagration or inferno.”
The Government and people of Ghana’s eyes are red! Yet, there is no fire in their faces. The entire nation is on war path.

On Thursday, 19th March, 2009, the President of the Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, H.E. Professor J.E.A. Mills, declared a war and called on all Ghanaians to stand by and fight. But who is the enemy? RAOD ACCIDENTS is the answer! Road accidents have no respect for socio-economic or political status. When they occur, the kill or maim everybody involves. So, they must be as national danger and enemy and be treated as such.

Ghanaians have the knack to claim and proclaim that Ghana is always the first in everything and anything in the West Africa sub-region if not on the entire Africa Continent. But if the United Nations were to institute a Global Award for the best Manslaughter Nation of Road Accidents, will Ghana be proud to be the first to receive such an award?

The National Roads Safety Commission recently released road fatalities recorded within the first quarter of this year alone and it was horrifying. That on the average, six precious lives of this peaceful nation are lost just like through road accidents daily. (See Daily Graphic of Saturday, March 28, 2009 Page 22) The figure six may at first sight seem insignificant. But if you multiply that by 30 days in a month, times 165 days in the year, is the nation gaining or losing? This is besides those who are maimed and rendered hopeless and helpless for life.

The object of this piece is not to churn out statistics of deaths through manslaughter on roads in Ghana. Rather, to bring to attention of the general public highlights of some concrete measures the Ministry of Roads and Highways has adopted to combat the menace once and for all.

On Thursday, March 26, 2009, the Minister for Roads and Highways, Hon. Joe Gidisu, acting upon the directives of the President, held a Press Briefing at the Ministry’s Conference room here in Accra and officially placed in the public domain the outcome of Stakeholders Forum on Road Accidents held on Tuesday, March, 24, 2009 also in Accra.

The Forum itself was a brainstorming session attended by over 60 participants representing over 17 stakeholders in the transport industry as well as the general public. The sector Minister set the tone the deliberations when he cautioned that the session should be turned into an arena of blame game where individuals or organisations would be pointing accusing fingers at one another. Rather, the road accident menace confronting the country must be seen as a national crisis and be tackled as such, the Minister advised.

Contributory factors

First, participants identified the following, as key factors that actually contribute to fatal accidents on the nation’s roads: They include High Speeds; Fatigue or driving tired; Wrongful Overtaking; Tyre burst; Driving under the influence of Alcohol; Injury Control; Unsafe Vehicles; Unsafe ; Unsafe Drivers; Disabled Vehicles left unattended, Legislation and Accident Spots, among others.

Another important factor that was identified had to do with the transportation of what was termed “hazardous goods” which are increasingly contributing to untimely deaths on the county’s roads. Think of petroleum products including gaz.

Consequently, an unwritten resolution was unanimously adopted whereby the Ministry of Roads and Highways, the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) and all the agencies of the Ministry and other stakeholder institutions have resolved to tackle and arrest the situation in phases thus, Immediate Actions, Short Term and Medium to Long Term Measures or strategies.

Immediate Interventions

That there is urgent need for NRSC to intensify their publicity efforts reaching out to various target groups with road user education across the country, especially on the use of seat belts. They must reach out to various target groups with road user education across the country and intensify education on use of seat belts. This simple rule of use of seat belts which many drivers in Ghana take for granted is a major factor in fatality in road accidents. Experts are of the view that if this simple rule can be respected, a lot of lives can be saved during accidents.

Again as immediate action, the Forum recommended that the Ghana Highway Authority must conduct an audit of the Winneba-Kasoa stretch and other hazardous locations and make necessary engineering measures which will help to reduce if not stop completely frequent accidents on that portion of the road.

The Authority has also been requested to consider erection of visible threatening signs at crash prone locations on the road. To address the fatigue and high speed problem of which most drivers are guilty, one strategy recommended was to ensure that all long distance vehicles are to introduce vehicle log books.

This is a practical strategy which will compel drivers to stop and rest in between journeys. The MTTU and the transport unions have been empowered to enforce this strategy to the letter. And if they adopt this basic measure, it will go a long way to drastically reduce accidents on the roads.

Another concrete action that has been adopted is that the National Road Safety Commission and MTTU have given authorization to Rutchen Trucks Ghana, a towing Service provider, to clear all roads in the country of any broken down vehicles which are left on the roads with impunity.

This dramatic action is starting immediately with Accra- Kumasi Highway to Accra-Takoradi and will soon be extended to cover the entire country. Experience has proved that this bad habit of drivers abandoning their disabled or broken down vehicles in the middle of the road without any proper warning sign has been one of the major causes of road accidents in this country.

That Transport Operators, Unions and Organisations must conduct basic checks on drivers and their vehicles at various Lorry Stations to ascertain the alertness of drivers and conditions of their vehicles before departure, and so on.

Short Term Interventions

With regard to short term interventions up to the end of this year, for instance, it was noted that Driving Standards and driver-quality must not be taken for granted the national target was to be achieved. In this respect the NRSC has put together a framework for the establishment of National Drivers Academy with the view to assuming leadership status in driver training and upgrading of all commercial drivers. The review of archaic road transport laws in the country cannot be overstressed.

The simple logic is that if driving is a profession like any profession in the county, a National Drivers Academy to train and certify people who want to be professional drivers. The current situation where any underage driver’s mate or apprentice can take his master vehicle on Sundays and pretend to be professional for life is an acceptable. Such Sunday drivers are part of people who are killing innocent passengers by heart.

Again, the NRSC will ensure that by the end of this year, all commercial vehicles will have speed limiters installed in their cars to enable drivers adhere to instructions and not what they desire to do with vehicles on the roads. Besides, other measures such as speed cameras on some selected corridors to manage the incidence of speeding and abuse of traffic regulations will be provided by the NRSC.

The NRSC and DVLA will also explore the possibility of using what is known as Tachographs to monitor driver fatigue and speeding as well as the establishment of Trauma Centers along some of the major highways throughout out the country.

It was cleared at the Stakeholders Forum that no one individual or institution can implement the strategies that have been adopted. There is therefore the urgent need for collaboration among all concerned such as Commercial Vehicle owners, Transport Operators, Unions and Organisations, the National Ambulance Service, NADMO, Fire Service, Ghana Army, Ghana Police Service, the Red Cross Society, all road users including pedestrians and passengers alike, must join hands with the Ministry of Roads and Highways to fight this national war against Road Accidents one and for all. As the President promised, financial support is assured.