Some lawless drivers have been caught driving against traffic on the newly opened Kwafokrom to Apedwa dual carriageway on the Suhum stretch of the Accra-Kumasi highway.
Their excuse was that they were unaware that the dual carriageway had been opened to traffic since yesterday.
"I still thought it was still a double lane," one of the arrested drivers tried to explain to the police".
The new 31.7km Kwafokrom-Apedwa dual carriageway was opened to traffic only yesterday, Wednesday, December 22, 2021 by the Roads and Highway Minister, Kwasi Amoako-Atta which allows vehicles to now drive facing the same direction on two lanes.
Hitherto, drivers were sharing only two lanes facing each other which according to road traffic enforcement agencies have caused most of the road accidents recorded in the country.
On an "Arrive Alive" road safety operation embarked upon on Thursday, December 23, 2021, a number of drivers were arrested for driving facing oncoming vehicles when that has become a thing of the past after the opening of the dual carriageway.
Officers from the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), The Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) and the Driver Vehicle Listening Authority (DVLA) were highly alarmed about this unfortunate event and jointly accosted such recalcitrant drivers for further legal processing.
The Eastern Regional Commander of the MTTD, Chief Superintendent Stephen Ahiatafu, told GhanaWeb in an interview, "I have joy in my heart because the road from Kwafokrom to Apedwa stretch has been dualized".
"That stretch is where we record most deaths in this country especially from Kyekyewere, Teacher Mante and other environs. So I'm happy we now have a dual stretch from there to Apedwa".
"Now our concentration should be from Asafo down to Bunso. Our prayer is that as the Minister promised, they will continue this dualization to Kumasi. When we have dual roads, we will not have head-on collisions anymore. We are not saying that we will not record accidents anymore, but they will reduce".
"But the impression I am getting is that drivers are still indisciplined on the road...in the curve... nobody should tell you that when you are approaching a curve you should slow down (but you will see drivers rather speeding when they approach a curve)," he expressed.
According to the MTTD Commander, "We will continue with the education, I'm here with Road Safety Authority and the DVLA."
A Deputy Planning Officer at the NRSA in the Eastern Region, Ms Rosalyn Arthur, expressed the view that enforcement of the road traffic regulations is of higher essence now and that her outfit and the MTTD were going all out to get drivers to adhere to the regulations.
"Education is ongoing but people are still not ready to change. People become more law-abiding when rules and regulations are made to work. The time should be now where we do with enforcement more than education," she told GhanaWeb.
