The Bongo-Soe road in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region has over the years been noted as a hot spot for road carnages.
Residents of the area and traders around attribute the cause of the accidents to the lack of speed ramps, which propels overspeeding on the road.
Ghanaweb's Upper East Correspondent, Sarah Dubure, visited the spot to engage residents and traders on the issue that has been a headache for sometime now.
Mr. Ayamga David revealed that five motorists had lost their lives at that spot; he indicated that all victims were either moving from Bongo towards town or approaching from the township towards Bongo.
He painfully gave an eyewitness account of an accident that claimed the life of one of his colleagues.
"One of our teammates just died here in a motor crush, very young. They were coming from this side and they wanted to curve this way, so they showed a traffigator, not knowing the one who was coming from town did not see them. He just hit them off and he finished there just instant. So it has been a pity, serious. He recounted.
Georgina Nsoh complained that the road from Bolga to Bongo does not have a single speed ramp. She added that there was a sharp curve just around, where motorists who approached from town constantly collided with those who approached from Bongo.
"Accidents are just occurring on this road due to lack of speed ramps. From town to Bongo, there is no single speed ramp around that area," She bemoaned.
Georgina recalled a 14-year-old boy, who was riding a motorbike, collided with another rider, and an oncoming car from town, which was heading towards Bongo ran over him, and he died instantly.
"I can testify that one day I was in school when they called that one young boy at the age of 14 crushed with another motor, and a car going from town to Bongo came and stepped on him. In fact, the guy just died instantly. Women around were weeping because they are also parents," she narrated.
She gave another account where a pregnant woman who was riding a motorbike, crushed with another motorist.
Madam Georgina explained the pregnant woman laid helplessly on the ground, her dress got stuck to a moving car, which dragged her along for sometime before she was eventually rescued.
She added that the pregnant woman was badly wounded, and they gathered that she, later on, lost her baby.
Mr. Michael Amayele noted that it was very rare for a month to elapse without at least, four accidents occurring in that area; they were usually fatal accidents where victims either got their limbs broken or died instantly.
Mr. Amayele said that the accident started shortly after the construction of the road; adding that when the road was untarred, they never witnessed such tragedies, as motorists and other road users rode with care.
He expressed optimism that if speed ramps were mounted on the road, the canker would cease.
DVLA's reaction:
In an exclusive interview with the Upper East Regional Manager of the Drivers and vehicles Licensing Authority (DVLA) Mr. Muktawakil Abdulai, he underlined measures to ensure the safety of road users generally.
He explained that as part of their mandate, they ensured that drivers behaved professionally.
Mr. Muktawakil also advised that professional drivers were mandated to check their vehicles daily, to ensure that they were in good shape, before taking off.
He bemoaned that what most drivers cared about was just to have petrol in their vehicles, and they were good to go, throwing the inspection of their vehicles to dogs.
"As a professional driver, when you get up in the morning, you have to check and ensure that everything is functioning well. That is why you are given license so if you don't do it and you go and something happens and you say oh brake failure; these are things we hear from drivers, which is very bad," He pointed.
The DVLA officer likened a driver's license to a gun and explained that when one was issued with a license to drive, he was issued with a weapon to kill, so it was, therefore, important for one in possession of a gun not to make a mistake.
He, therefore, advised passengers to take their lives into their own hands, by reporting drivers who misbehaved while driving at the nearest police checkpoints.
About GhanaWeb Road Safety Campaign:
The GhanaWeb Road Safety Campaign forms a part of the numerous projects GhanaWeb has rolled out as part of its 22nd-anniversary celebrations.
The year-long campaign dubbed #GhanaWebRoadSafety took off on Monday, March 1, 2021, and will focus on three key areas: indiscipline on roads; bad roads, and potholes that contribute to road accidents and absence of streetlights.
The campaign is being executed in partnership with major stakeholders including the Ghana Road Safety Commission, the Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Highways Authority, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the Ghana Fire Service, the Ghana National Ambulance Service and the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority.
The campaign is also spearheaded by musician and politician Bice Osei Kuffour (Obour) as the Ambassador.
Join in the conversation by sharing your videos about indiscipline, bad roads and accidents on all our social media platforms; Instagram, Twitter and Facebook at @TheGhanaWeb and to our WhatsApp number: 0552699625
