Noble Appiah: Road Carnages For January 2011 Is A Wake-Up Call

The Executive Director of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), Mr. Noble Appiah, has accredited road carnages to the inconsistency of statutory institutions, traffic operators and civil societies in the country. He made this claim on the Big Bite morning show with Emefa Apawu on an Accra based commercial radio station, XFM 95.1. This was in reference to some figures released by the head of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU), ACP Angwubutoge Awuni at a press conference in Accra on Friday, January 21, 2011. 123 lives have been lost through a total of 539 road accidents in the month of January 2011 alone. Mr. Appiah described this as a wakeup call for all Ghanaians and also advised all vehicle owners to ensure their drivers take enough rest and get mechanics to check their vehicles regularly. He says, “If you are a vehicle owner, your duty is to ensure that for instance before your driver takes off he has enough rest”. “If for instance, you are a passenger in a vehicle and you saw that the driver was overtaking six vehicles at a go, you are the passenger at that time, what are you doing?” He advised passengers to ensure the drivers of vehicles they board have not taken alcohol and also added that they should watch for worn out vehicles. Mr. Appiah cited an example with an accident, which occurred on the Apam road where 13 people lost their lives. “Look at the accident which occurred recently where 13 people died towards Apam area. This driver left his station at 3am and the accident occurred around 5. The driver has not had enough sleep”. On the issue of driving licenses, Mr. Appiah said that current licensing systems have been improved but rather the training for commercial vehicle drivers was lacking. The Executive Director of NRSC stated that every road accident is preventable. He further advised all passengers and drivers to wear seat belts and motorists to wear crash helmets.