We are reviewing regulations to handle road crash problems – Kwaku Asiamah
The Minister of Transport, Mr. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, says the Ministry has begun a review of the Road Traffic Act 2004 and the Road Traffic Regulations 2012 in order to effectively handle Ghana’s present road crash problem.
He stated that work was going well and that they will deliver the documents to Parliament next week before moving on to Cabinet for further interactions.
The Minister made the remarks at the National Road Safety Authority’s (NRSA) “Stay Alive Road Safety Campaign” launch in Accra on Wednesday.
The Campaign, which is the second phase of the “ARRIVE ALIVE” Road Safety Campaign, will allow the NRSA, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), and the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), in collaboration with other stakeholders, to combine education, advocacy, training, and enforcement to combat the threat of road traffic crashes and casualties.
According to the Minister, the review would include traffic enforcement automation, which will allow traffic law violators to be electronically detected, apprehended, and fined.
Drivers who have been in too many accidents, he said, will be labeled as high-risk drivers, and their licenses will be revoked or they will be prohibited from driving specific vehicles. Commercial drivers would also be required to attend refresher training on a bi-annual or yearly basis, according to Mr. Asiamah.
He said “the act of excessive speeding, overtaking without appropriate care to other cars, driving weary on the part of drivers, jaywalking, non-wearing of a crash helmet, and passing red-light among others are some of the common men linked concerns confronting road safety management measures”
According to the Minister, an Inter-Ministerial Committee set up by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on April 15, 2021, to give suggestions on how to reduce road traffic crashes in Ghana recommended that the National Road Safety Campaign be scaled up.
The Committee also recommended that legislation requiring two drivers for long-distance journeys be enforced, as well as a necessary rest break for drivers and pre-departure inspections at transportation facilities.
It also stated that speed limiters should be installed in certain vehicles, that commercial vehicle drivers should receive mandatory refresher training, and that major highways should be equipped with road signs, road-line markings, street lights, and crash barriers.
According to the minister, it was also recommended by the committee that there should be an increase in highway patrols to intensify routine road checks and that the “War on Road Indiscipline” exercise should be reactivated, as well as automated traffic enforcement to electronically detect, apprehend, and fine traffic law violators.
The Minister urged the media to be at the forefront of the campaign and to use their platforms to make it more effective
Mrs May Obiri-Yeboah, Director General of the National Road Safety Authority, said the campaign will hold road users more accountable and make them take full responsibility for the carnage on the roads, rather than blaming it on the devil.
She added that it would also encourage road users to observe and advocate for adherence to traffic norms at all times, as well as report infractions, according to her.
Mrs. Obiri-Yeboah told the Ghana News Agency that the Authority planned to design incentive packages for persons who reported violations by other road users and that anyone who cooperated with evidence of any violation of road safety standards would remain anonymous.
Source: Richard Mensah Adonu | Join our Telegram Group
