The Minister for Transport, Hon. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah has charged the National Road Safety Authority, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority and the Motor Traffic and Transport Department of the Ghana Police Service and other stakeholders to join efforts to fight the menace of road traffic crashes and casualties in the country.

Launching the Nationwide “Stay Alive Road Safety Campaign” at the forecourt of Parliament House, the Minister lauded the Media for being very supportive and used the opportunity to express his profound appreciation for the overwhelming commitment towards the Arrive Alive Campaign that was launched last year.

“The media was at the center of the campaign, setting and leading the agenda for public discourse on road safety issues almost on daily basis. I have no doubt that the Media will continue to support road safety programmes to create greater awareness among road users”, he stated.

Hon. Ofori Asiamah explained, the overall objective of the Stay Alive Road Safety Campaign was to call on all Ghanaians to be Road Safety Advocates. The call, he said, included, debunking the notion that incidents of road traffic crashes were as a result of the devil, rather we must take full responsibility and consequences of our actions and inactions.

He added, researches conducted by the National Road Safety Authority over the last decade have pointed to indiscipline and human attitude being the main contributory factors to crashes on our roads. These, he noted, included the act of excessive speeding, overtaking without due caution, driving tired, jaywalking, non-wearing of crash helmet and jumping red-light among others.

He mentioned His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee comprising the Ministers for The Interior, Transport, Roads and Highways and Communication and Digitalization with a task to recommend concrete measures of reducing road traffic crashes in the country.

“I am happy to report that the Committee after assessing the road safety issues, made some recommendations for implementation in the short, medium and long term. These interventions include, enforcement of the regulations on two drivers for long distance journeys, mandatory rest period for drivers and pre-departure checks at transport terminals. Others are, Installation of speed limiters in certain vehicles, mandatory refresher training for commercial vehicle drivers, provision of Road Signs, Road-line Markings, Street Lightening and electronically detecting, apprehending and issuing fines to traffic offenders”, he explained.

The Minister, urged Ghanaians to speak up against bad habits of pedestrians, drivers and motorists and report any risky behaviour of a road user that could endanger human life. 

He said it was refreshing to know that our traditional leaders, religious leaders, Parliamentarians and Artistes comprising musicians and Film Actors had all joined the campaign against road crushes. He added they all had a role to play by sensitizing their constituents and followers through their speeches, statements and songs.

The Minister noted Christmas was a few weeks away and there could not have been any better time to launch the Campaign than now. He called on all road users especially drivers and motorcyclists to be disciplined, circumspect and responsible, avoiding the unnecessary speeding and maneuverings that could mar the celebration of the birth of Christ for families.

He implored all to use the short code 194 to report abandoned vehicle on the road for the necessary actions to be taken.