An accident on the Suhum side of the Accra-Kumasi Road left a trail of heavy traffic on both sides of the corridor, leading to several hours of lack of vehicular movement on the stretch.
The situation was only salvaged by the Suhum MTTD Police and Road Safety Management Services Limited which deployed its heavy-duty tow trucks to help address the traffic situation.
The incident highlighted the need for having a National Towing Project as stipulated in the Road Traffic Act, 2180.
The prevalence of bus accidents and breakdowns is believed to be due to the high number of casualties that such accidents cause, not due to frequency.
The Nigeria-registered trailer with the number LSD-474XK was carrying cargo bound for Kumasi and was “enroute to Burkina Faso to make deliveries”, according to the driver, Oge Kobo.
The driver, in an attempt to avoid a collision with an approaching vehicle tried to forcibly stop his truck and in the process skidded off the road, leaving its trailer on the main section of the stretch located between the overhead on the Suhum section of the road and a fuel station.
The accident left many passengers aboard approaching vehicles stranded. The oncoming cars could not move for hours as personnel of the Suhum MTTD Police came to help resolve the situation.
The team led by Superintendent Ahmed Yahaya called for further assistance from Road Safety Management Services Limited after several attempts by smaller tow trucks to remove the trailer from the road.
Operations Manager of Road Safety Management Services, Ing. Kwadwo Osei said “the deployment of the state-of-the-art tow trucks were crucial and timely in helping reduce the level of traffic caused my the accident”.
According to the National Road Safety Commission, 22 percent of fatalities on the roads are caused by such broken-down and disabled vehicles.
Ing. Osei said the timely removal and towing of such cars are important in reducing deaths caused by crashes on Ghana’s roads.
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By: Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana