The Director of Planning and Programs at the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Ing David Osafo Adonteng has stated that Ghana's roads are not growing to accommodate the over three million vehicles that ply the roads.
Speaking during a GhanaWeb Road Safety Webinar on Monday, September 27, 2021, he said that road crashes that continue to claim thousands of lives annually must be treated as a pandemic.
Ing Osafo Adonteng noted that Ghana hasn't lost the battle to road accidents:
" We are all in this battle together. It is a battle we are fighting. I am happy you are equating it to an emergency, but I will say it is beyond that. It is a pandemic because if we are recognizing COVID-19 which has killed over a thousand for a period of two years and you have six months killing over 1,700 then I don't see why you will see COVID as a pandemic and not this one.
"As a country, we have a problem, a lot is being done by the Road Safety together with our stakeholders. What is happening is that our roads are not safe. We have the population growing to the extent that now, close to 3 million vehicles and beyond running in the country. We have a human population also growing, these are two critical factors that contribute to crash occurring because the roads are not growing to accommodate the numbers. Once in a while, there is some form of improvement here and there but it is not growing in a network that can accommodate all these vehicles at a time. We are crying for expansion of our roads which in recent times you've heard people crying for the dualization of our roads and highways."
Speaking on the theme "Losing the road safety battle- what can be done now?" he bemoaned the level of indiscipline on the roads. Ing Osafo Adonteng noted that the National Road Safety Authority and other stakeholders have embarked on several education programmes for drivers.
"People are behaving in a manner as if they don't fear to die. Hit our highways and see what is happening, indiscipline all over. It has gone beyond the education of don't drink and drive because publicity in terms of education has gone very far," he noted.
Ing Osafo Adonteng furthered: "Indeed, I must commend GhanaWeb for the initiative, I have been following your campaign over time. It is a good initiative to support government in our effort, we cannot do it alone."
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 Highway 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
