Road safety Archives - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always https://citifmonline.com/tag/road-safety/ Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz Sat, 16 Dec 2017 11:48:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.0.8 https://citifmonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-CITI-973-FM-32x32.jpg Road safety Archives - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always https://citifmonline.com/tag/road-safety/ 32 32 Over 270 killed in road crashes in Ashanti – Road Safety https://citifmonline.com/2017/12/over-270-killed-in-road-crashes-in-ashanti-road-safety/ Sat, 16 Dec 2017 10:36:03 +0000 http://citifmonline.com/?p=383019 Two hundred and seventy-three road users have died in road accidents between January and November this year in the Ashanti Region. The figures according to Regional Road Safety Commission are worrying, considering the continuous campaigns on road safety measures. Speaking to Citi News, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regional Manager of the Road Safety Commission, Samuel […]

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Two hundred and seventy-three road users have died in road accidents between January and November this year in the Ashanti Region.

The figures according to Regional Road Safety Commission are worrying, considering the continuous campaigns on road safety measures.

Speaking to Citi News, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regional Manager of the Road Safety Commission, Samuel Asiamah, blamed the crashes on avoidable human errors such as drink-driving.

[contextly_sidebar id=”LEJexnkGNqt9li58twihwKyvGG4k7HLC”]Mr. Asiamah wants passengers to play a key role in ensuring that those driving them are in good condition at all times.

“Normally, we have high crashes coming to the end of the year because of weather pattern, again when we enter into the harmattan season as well, we do have a lot of crashes. This year, I think in September we had a lot of crashes, but most of them like I mentioned, were as a result of speeding, overtaking and fatigue, people driving longer hours and falling asleep behind the steering wheels, and most of these things are things that we as road users have to take upon  ourselves, that our safety is key.”

“Again, as a passenger, whether you are commercial passenger or private passenger, you should be more cautious of the driver who is driving you, whether the person is sleeping or whether the person is intoxicated, you just don’t sit in somebody’s car and say I leave it to God”he said.

The Road Safety officials say they are collaborating with the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department, and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, DVLA, to enforce road safety regulations to reduce the number of such incidences across the country.

By: Naa Kwamaah Siaw&Farida Yusif/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

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State being irresponsible with controversial tow levy – Franklin Cudjoe https://citifmonline.com/2017/08/state-being-irresponsible-with-controversial-tow-levy-franklin-cudjoe/ Sun, 06 Aug 2017 06:20:25 +0000 http://citifmonline.com/?p=342491 The President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe believes the State is essentially washing its hands off ensuring discipline and safety on roads with its controversial nationwide towing programme. Mr. Cudjoe was speaking on The Big Issue, where he also described the 20-year duration of the programme as “silly”. [contextly_sidebar id=”MLSJDwnT2jR23nERkZ8unOv5Aw8Z8Mow”]”The issue really has always had to do with the […]

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The President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe believes the State is essentially washing its hands off ensuring discipline and safety on roads with its controversial nationwide towing programme.

Mr. Cudjoe was speaking on The Big Issue, where he also described the 20-year duration of the programme as “silly”.

[contextly_sidebar id=”MLSJDwnT2jR23nERkZ8unOv5Aw8Z8Mow”]”The issue really has always had to do with the arrangement. I think 20 years is too much. This is a short term issue. The fact that we are accepting as a State that we are abdicating our role in ensuring safety on our roads and deciding that we will rather outsource to a company… they want to outsource this because the State system has collapsed in terms of maintaining law and order on our roads,” Mr. Cudjoe said.

His advice to government is that it “takes the whole deal back again” adding that “I am not sure that a 20 year deal like this makes sense.”

“If we are talking maybe three of five years because you believe that you will be working towards making sure that the rules will be obeyed on our roads, maybe yes, but 20 years is just too much… The state is essentially suggesting to us through Parliament that we will never get anything right.”

The Ministry of Transport has come out to say it has not yet taken any decision on the implementation of this programme.

More companies should go through tender process

As part of possible changes to the deal, Mr. Cudjoe suggested that “the companies involved must be more than one and they must go through proper tendering processes.”

The sole company contracted by the National Road Safety Commission’s (NRSC) for the programme is Road Safety Management Services Limited.

The commission explained that other towing companies were assessed for possible involvement in the programme but lacked the requisite capacity.

Road Safety Management Services, on the other hand, is reported to have already acquired some 118 trucks ahead of the implementation of the programme.

Thus, settling on Road Safety Management Limited was the convenient option for the NRSC, though Road Safety Management Limited is expected to as a regulator of the smaller towing companies which will also be involved in the programme.

The towing programme is to ensure that all vehicles that breakdown on highways are cleared off the roads. Drivers are required to pay a road safety levy ranging between GHc 10 and GHc 200.

Commercial vehicles and taxis will pay GHc40, mini buses will pay GHc80, while heavy duty trucks will pay between GHc80 and GHc200 annually, depending on their tonnage. Non-commercial vehicles are expected to pay GHc20.

By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The case against the towing levy, and a way forward [Article] https://citifmonline.com/2017/08/the-case-against-the-towing-levy-and-a-way-forward-article/ Thu, 03 Aug 2017 07:19:52 +0000 http://citifmonline.com/?p=341623 The proposed Mandatory Towing Levy is unjust, badly designed, probably corrupt, and unlikely to achieve its stated goals. Here’s why. And here’s how achieve the goal of ridding our roads of abandoned vehicles.   Why is it unjust and probably corrupt?   Mantolee, as Imani’s Patrick Stephenson calls it, burdens all motorists with the cost […]

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The proposed Mandatory Towing Levy is unjust, badly designed, probably corrupt, and unlikely to achieve its stated goals. Here’s why. And here’s how achieve the goal of ridding our roads of abandoned vehicles.

 

Why is it unjust and probably corrupt?

 

Mantolee, as Imani’s Patrick Stephenson calls it, burdens all motorists with the cost of the negligence or misfortunes of a few and gives the profits to one private entity, with no connection between the profits and the work done. Motorists would still pay and RSML (The Zoomlion subsidiary) would still collect its profits even if they don’t have to tow a single vehicle in any given year. In other words, the scheme socializes the cost and privatizes the gain.

 

Why is the design flawed?

 

Mantolee confuses a service with a punishment. If I pay a company to tow my car to a mechanic in the event of a breakdown, that’s a service. If the government tows my broken-down car and charges me a fee to retrieve it, that’s a punishment. An insurance is a service. Is Mantolee a service or a punishment? Under the current design as I understand it, all motorists will get punished just so the government can serve a few.

 

A better design would encourage motorists to get that service from whomever they wish, and if they fail to do so, or if the service provider fails to deliver within a mandatory period, punish the motorists who would then punish the service provider by demanding a refund or taking his business to another. The sequence matters.

Why is it unlikely to achieve its goals?

There’s this economic theory of moral hazard that occurs when a person takes more risks because another person bears the cost of those risks. This concern is inherent in the insurance business but especially problematically so in this context.

If you are a motorist and you know that someone will tow your vehicle for free if it breaks down, you have less incentive to get it off the road in the event of a breakdown regardless of how long it takes for the tow truck to arrive. Even if you can do it quickly by yourself, wouldn’t we all prefer for someone to come and tow it for free straight to our mechanic?
On the other side, if you’re RSML, you have less incentive to go and tow a broken-down vehicle if you’ve already been paid by the State and you have no competition. Besides, you can always make plenty believable excuses—bad traffic, no drivers, wrong location, etc. etc.—if you have no competition.

 

How can we fix it?

Now consider the alternative world where the towing company is given the legal authority to tow the vehicle and the affected motorist must pay the towing company or risk the vehicle getting auctioned off. In that scenario, both parties would be highly motivated to get that vehicle off the road fast.

Even without mandating drivers to purchase towing insurance, as some have proposed, the market for that service would grow naturally, because people would not want to pay the higher punishment fee if the government is forced to tow the vehicle.

To get to this promised land, the government simply must decentralize and auction the authority to tow vehicles at a pre-determined price. If RSML can do this more effectively and efficiently, it would very likely come out tops in the bid for most Districts. In other markets, other players would play. If the parent Zoomlion decides to acquire those other players over time, that’s fine as long as it fits within antitrust laws governing the sector.

Government would then simply play referee by ensuring that the towing companies tow vehicles within laid-down rules that government should set. That would include having clear signs for where you can park/can’t park, etc.

It’s not complicated.

By: @Kobina

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Road Safety Commission to enforce tyre standards https://citifmonline.com/2017/06/road-safety-commission-to-enforce-tyre-standards/ Tue, 20 Jun 2017 14:30:22 +0000 http://citifmonline.com/?p=330002 In 2008, the National Road Safety Commission in furtherance of its advocacy and research mandate, conducted a study on the magnitude of the use of “home-used” or “second-hand” tyres and its impact on the road safety situation in Ghana. Findings from the study confirmed among others that, 75% of tyres imported into the country were […]

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In 2008, the National Road Safety Commission in furtherance of its advocacy and research mandate, conducted a study on the magnitude of the use of “home-used” or “second-hand” tyres and its impact on the road safety situation in Ghana.

Findings from the study confirmed among others that, 75% of tyres imported into the country were used tyres, which presupposes that three in every four tyres sold in Ghana were used tyres.

[contextly_sidebar id=”EFEmilrSgHfWPiu3DXHQzEbz8BoYZ3Vc”]It also said that, the patronage of used tyres in Ghana increases the risk of crash (accident) occurrence by 30%.  Also, 15.2%  of vehicles involved in fatal crashes had some form of defect prior to the crash, which was in the form of a tyre burst or blown up tyre pressures situations that also constituted 4.4% of these defects.

At this background, the Commission intended to formulate a policy which was in accordance to Regulation 62 of the Road Traffic Regulations 2012, L.I 2180 to bring into force the Implementation of the tyre Standardization, a move which sought to have a ban on the importation and use of substandard tyres in the country, to ensure adherence as provided in the law.

The commission began broad consultations engaging stakeholders in the road transport sector, to brainstorm and deliberate on the best ways to ensure sanity in the transport sector in regards to the intended ban on importation and use of substandard tyres.

It also seeks to educate and sensitize the public and participants- automobile dealers, association of tyre dealers, transport operators, road safety advocates and some enforcement Institutions including the Ghana Standards Authority, Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) and the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) to understand the law and enforcement to the tyre standards as stipulated in the Road Traffic  Regulations. The other groups included: technocrats, policy makers, tyre manufacturers and tyre dealers.

It was in this same vein that, the Abbosey Okai Tyre dealers Association invited the  NRSC to their General Meeting to further seek more education in regards to how the law would affect their operations ahead of its implementation later in this year September.

In a brief remark, the Executive Director of the National Road Safety Commission, Ing. Mrs. May Obiri Yebaoh assured the tyre dealers that the consultations would continue up till the time the policy will finally take off to ensure that the final document captures all concerns and suggestions comprehensively. According to her, the law is a good one that would help check and reduce crashes related cases on our roads.

She, therefore, advised the dealers to wholeheartedly accept and support the Commission on the move to save more lives that could even include theirs and that of their family members as road safety was a shared and collective responsibility.

The Director in charge of Planning and Programming (NRSC), Mr. David Osafo Adonteng who took the dealers through the law said, it comes in phases to cover the Importer, the dealers and users, adding that the law has ways of dealing with all of them.

He added that, for a dealer who sells a substandard tyre to a user, would be sanctioned under the law, whereas a user who also buys and put under the car would be ceased when visited the DVLA for road worthy and would be asked to change the tyre before the car would be released. Also for importers, the law will act on them should they bring anything that fell below the required standards.

The Secretary of Abossey-Okai Tyres Sellers Association, Atta-Nsafoah in an interview admitted that the Association welcomes the move to regularize standardization of tyres in the country, a move he thinks can help bring some form of sanity into the industry.

He added that, the Commission’s visit was educative to the Association, as a central point of dealing in car tyres was necessary to understand the policy and help so that the policy becomes successful when finally implemented.

Source: NRSC

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AMA relaunches partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies https://citifmonline.com/2017/05/ama-relaunches-partnership-with-bloomberg-philanthropies/ Tue, 16 May 2017 13:31:57 +0000 http://citifmonline.com/?p=319692 Bloomberg Philanthropies, a US non-governmental organization, is collaborating with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to provide technical assistance in safer streets design and mobility, enforcement and education to ensure safer roads in the capital. The partnership is to address the challenge of road carnages through promoting the use of seatbelts and child restraints, helmet wearing by […]

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Bloomberg Philanthropies, a US non-governmental organization, is collaborating with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to provide technical assistance in safer streets design and mobility, enforcement and education to ensure safer roads in the capital.

The partnership is to address the challenge of road carnages through promoting the use of seatbelts and child restraints, helmet wearing by motorcycle riders and their passengers, reducing drivers’ speed and incidence of drink-driving.

Addressing the press in Accra, Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive of Accra, said enforcement of traffic rules and regulations remains one of the greatest challenges to achieving sanity on the roads.

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He said the Assembly would continue with the collaboration with stakeholders to upgrade the skills and knowledge base of the Metropolitan Guards to review the regulations guiding their operations to enforce laws in the city.

Mr. Sowah added that some of the city’s roads over the years had become dangerous for road users as population grow, adding that a number of re-engineering works to widen or reduce kerb sizes and general infrastructural works was being undertaken by the Assembly.

He said road safety was a critical global, national and city priority, which needed rigorous multi-sectoral approach to reduce the serious toll of deaths and injuries recorded each year.

Mr. Sowah indicated that between 2011 and 2015, there were 12,877 road traffic crashes which occurred in the city, of which 24 per cent were fatal resulting in 891 deaths and 2,877 seriously injured victims.

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He expressed worry about reckless behaviour on the part of motorcycle drivers as a result of their refusal to use helmets and not obeying traffic signals which were a high-risk factor of road crashes.

He said the Assembly was putting measures in place to increase enforcement and amendment of existing laws.

“It was estimated that government will lose 1.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product this year as a result of road crashes and urged all authorities for decisive measures to address the menace of road crashes.”

By: Philip Nii Lartey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Road safety; a shared and collective responsibility [Article] https://citifmonline.com/2017/04/road-safety-a-shared-and-collective-responsibility-article/ Thu, 27 Apr 2017 06:00:33 +0000 http://citifmonline.com/?p=314238 Undoubtedly, road transport remains the largest and main mode of transportation in Ghana. As a major transport network,  it serves an array of purposes for both travelers and industries.  Travelers and industries rely heavily on road to transport people, goods and products from one place to the other. This suggests more road usage in Ghana, […]

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Undoubtedly, road transport remains the largest and main mode of transportation in Ghana. As a major transport network,  it serves an array of purposes for both travelers and industries.  Travelers and industries rely heavily on road to transport people, goods and products from one place to the other.

This suggests more road usage in Ghana, but there are limited alternatives. However, safety on the roads has become a major challenge in the country.

Globally, road safety is being tackled as a public health and developmental issue which Ghana is no exception. This has attracted the attention of policy makers at all levels of governance. The pressures on these road often results in road traffic crashes.

These road traffic crashes and the casualties pose developmental and public health with challenging militating effects against the socio-economic development especially for low and middle income countries like Ghana.

Owing to this devastating  effect, the United Nations (UN), declared a decade of Action for Road Safety with a call on member countries to reduce road traffic crashes by 50 percent by the end of year 2020.

To be able to achieve this, The National Road Safety Commission together with its mother Ministry, Ministry of Transport and other stakeholders are working so hard to make sure that road traffic crushes and injuries are reduced to the minimum levels in accordance with the set target.

The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) was established by an Act of Parliament (ACT 567) in 1999 with the mandate to develop and promote road safety and coordinate policies in relation to them.

Per this mandate, the Commission is to play the role of a lead agency to spear head, collaborate and coordinate among other stakeholders on road safety in the country.  One of the major activities through which the Commission uses to achieve this mandate is the nationwide road safety education through its regional offices.

The importance of road safety education and campaigns cannot be over emphasized. The Commission generally employs road user educational campaigns to help compliment other road safety measures in Ghana.

One major sensitization tool mostly deployed by the Commission as part of its advocacy efforts is these campaigns.

In recent past, the Commission has implemented series of campaigns on the “Don’t Drive Tired”, “Avoid Drink Driving”, “Use of Crash Helmet”, National Pedestrian Safety Campaign dubbed the “Be Alert! Look out for other Road Users” Campaign.

The Commission as part of it continues effort is planning to launch a motor cycle related campaign this year to highlight the rising trend of motor cycle related deaths over the last years and the measures to help reverse it.

It was in this same direction that the National Easter Road Safety was launched. In two phases, the first phase was  prior to the Easter festivities  and in a collaborated effort with the Motor, Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service and the Drivers, Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA), visited transport terminals to interact with the leadership of transport operators to ensure that passengers were safely transported by road to their various destinations during the Easter period.

The main campaign launch took place on the 4th of April this year at Kpong main Lorry Station in the Eastern Region on the theme: “Safety First, Think Safety and Drive Safely”.

This also paved the way for road safety advocates to hit the major roads across the country to advise drivers to minimize their travel speed limits, empower passengers to speak up against driver misconduct and pedestrians to keep to safe walking and crossing practices whilst on the road.

Imperatively, to a large extent the low road crashes cases that were experienced during this Easter Festive season was largely due to the intense work of the Commission and its collaborated agencies  and stakeholders. Also on the other hand,  the level of compliance by drivers, passengers and pedestrians on proper road safety regulations and measures must have all largely be contributing factors to the success.  This comes across to buttress the point that the Commission’s work alone cannot ensure success unless the beneficiaries being all road users are actively involved.

NRSC campaigns are always motivated by data and packaged to address data-led concerns. In Ghana, available data suggests that, April and December records the most road traffic crashes. Pedestrians, motorcyclists and  passengers account for nearly seventy percentage (70%) of the traffic casualties. This situation is often the consequences of speeds especially in urbanized environments by drivers, failure by pedestrians to cross and use roads safely and failure of motor riders to yield for pedestrians especially at intersections.

At this back drop, it evident that beyond the advocacy work of the NRSC and it implementing stakeholders, the onus of the work also lies on the drivers, passengers and pedestrians who are generally road users to adhere and submit themselves to the road safety regulations. Largely, the adherence levels of road users determines a reduction in the numbers of road fatalities and their resultant impact on the country as a whole. This, also buttresses the fact that road safety is a shared and collective responsibility.

However, it is a pathetic situation to bemoan when some members of road users see road safety advocacy as something that is outside their interest. Often, they shy away from road activities and programmes directed at ensuring safety on the roads.

Most road users lose the fact that they actually own their safety in their hands once on the road.  In Ghana, the second most vulnerable road user class is the passenger. Passenger deaths account for almost 23% of all road traffic deaths in the country.

The reason stems largely from the fact that, passengers often assume passive roles and do not speak up against any wrong doing on the roads largely due to the fear of intimidation and being branded “too known” as said in our local set ups. This situation has led to several avoidable instances.

About 90% of causes of road traffic crashes can be attributed to human error. Negative road user behaviour including speeding, drinking driving and others contributing to indiscipline on our roads. These crashes have a very huge impact on the productive human resources base of the country especially the youth who happen to be the future of the country.

About 60 percent of crash victims are between the productive age bracket of 18-55years. This shows that the more crashes cases  we record, the more deadening impact it likely to have on us.

Road safety is a collective and shared responsibility and we must all have our hands on deck. The National Road Safety has its part to play as the lead agency alongside its supporting stakeholders. however, on the other hand,  road users also have their parts to play. It must be a conscious attempt working towards a collective goal. It must be a collective goal and once there is a break within the chain, it affects the level of success.

I therefore, urge all road users to take their safety on the road personal. we all have a duty to ensure that we have a crash free society where road traffic crashes and fatalities will be a thing of the past. Our goal is to eradicate road traffic crashes and injuries by 50% by the year 2020. Let the our goal as road users whether you are a driver, a passenger, a motorist or a pedestrian. Road Safety, a shared and collective responsibility!

By: Samuel Owusu-Yeboah

(Information Officer, NRSC communications Unit)

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Road Safety Commission begins accident-free Easter campaign https://citifmonline.com/2017/04/road-safety-commission-begins-accident-free-easter-campaign/ Wed, 12 Apr 2017 09:00:22 +0000 http://citifmonline.com/?p=309981 The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) in the Volta Region, has begun road safety enforcement campaign in the region ahead of the Easter festivities. The exercise, with support from the police and personnel from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, is to help reduce road crashes during the celebrations. The region recorded a total of […]

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The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) in the Volta Region, has begun road safety enforcement campaign in the region ahead of the Easter festivities.

The exercise, with support from the police and personnel from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, is to help reduce road crashes during the celebrations.

The region recorded a total of 144 road crashes during the first quarter of 2016, and the Commission is hoping to bring the crashes down this year, having already recorded 123 for the first quarter of 2017.

Ms Joana Fafa Ayer, Planning Officer, NRSC Volta Regional Secretariat, at a campaign trail at Aflao, said the southern Volta, Ho area, and the Eastern corridor, were accident prone areas in the region, and called on all to be cautious on those stretches during the festivities.

Mr. Sampson Agbeko, District Police Crime Officer, Aflao, said though the environment and vehicles contributed to accidents, human factors such as drunkenness, carelessness, disregard for road signs and speeding largely contributed to about 97 per cent of it all.

He therefore warned drivers against ignoring police flags and instructions, and urged travelers to report undisciplined drivers to the police.

Togbi Hodzi Dunyo IV, Chief of Ave-Atanve and Chief Executive Officer, Road Safety Enforcement Foundation (RSEF), a non-profit entity with focus on road safety, urged the Commission to build road safety information centres that would offer tit-bits to drivers and passengers.

Mr. Benjamin Katsekpor, Volta Regional Progressive Transport Association (PROTOA) Chairman, called for tighter collaboration among driver unions on “enforcing internal safety” and safety on the road.

Mr. Michael Klutse, Chairman, Ghana Private Road Transport Union Branch One, Aflao, bemoaned the short periods of training given to drivers at driving schools, which he said was to blame for the high numbers of private cars recorded in road crashes.


Source: GNA

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AMEND, Puma Energy launch road safety programme for students https://citifmonline.com/2017/04/amend-puma-energy-launch-road-safety-programme-for-students/ Sun, 02 Apr 2017 14:00:38 +0000 http://citifmonline.com/?p=307013 AMEND-Ghana, with support from Puma Energy Foundation, has launched a road safety programme to protect school children in an effort to reduce road accidents. The project, which has been endorsed by the National Road Safety Commission and the Ghana Education Service, is to ensure that children are protected as they walk to and from school. […]

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AMEND-Ghana, with support from Puma Energy Foundation, has launched a road safety programme to protect school children in an effort to reduce road accidents.

The project, which has been endorsed by the National Road Safety Commission and the Ghana Education Service, is to ensure that children are protected as they walk to and from school.

Recent reports from the World Health Organization estimates that over 6,700 people are killed on Ghana’s roads each year.

Speaking at the launch, Executive Director of AMEND, Jeffrey Witte, said because child pedestrians are among the highest-risk groups in Ghana for road traffic injury, it is important for special attention to be given to ensure fewer lives are lost. According to him, some of these projects, although expensive, can be adopted by government to ensure that every child of school-going age is protected.

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“We choose the Richard Akwei Memorial School in the Agbogbloshi section of Accra to launch this project because of the number of accidents that usually occur in front of the school. Last year, five pupils were injured. We have interacted with the students, taught them how to cross the road and where to walk. ”

On her part, the Headmistress of Richard Akwei Memorial School said her institution was grateful to AMEND and Puma Energy.

She said before the construction of speed ramps on the road in front of her school, the situation was worrying whilst calling for more education among Ghanaians to help reduce the road accidents.

“When our children are given more education it can reduce the rate at which they are knocked down by cars, but our drivers still need to be educated. The name is zebra-crossing, but when a child stands there, the drivers do not readily stop to allow them to pass. But because of the ramps, now they will be forced to slow down. If an NGO can do this, then government can do more. We need a lot of these interventions across the country especially at schools directly by a road.”

Representing Vincent Faber, Executive Director of Puma Energy Foundation, Zohra McDoolley Aimone, Regional Head of Corporate Affairs for Africa, said, “The Puma Energy Foundation is strongly committed to improving the safety of Africa’s children on the roads.”

“We believe that the twin-pronged approach of implementing practical solutions on the ground as well as promoting sustainable safety solutions to policy makers, will contribute to ensure safe and healthy journeys to school and a bright future for Ghana’s children.”

By: Felicia Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Road Safety intensifies outreach campaign in Accra ahead of Easter https://citifmonline.com/2017/03/road-safety-intensifies-outreach-campaign-in-accra-ahead-of-easter/ Thu, 30 Mar 2017 15:20:41 +0000 http://citifmonline.com/?p=306459 The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) has intensified its public education programme in the Greater Accra Region ahead of the Easter festivities to ensure that proper safety regulations are adhered to before and during the Easter period. Being the lead agency mandated to spearhead and coordinate road safety in the country, the commission has remained […]

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The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) has intensified its public education programme in the Greater Accra Region ahead of the Easter festivities to ensure that proper safety regulations are adhered to before and during the Easter period.

Being the lead agency mandated to spearhead and coordinate road safety in the country, the commission has remained committed to this course.

The Commission said it has had to step up its education as travelers would be moving to other parts of the country by road during the Easter holiday.

This year’s National Easter Road Safety Campaign Program and activities being driven on the theme: “Safety First, Think Safety and Drive Safety, in a collaborated effort, afforded officials of NRSC and other officials of the Motor, Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service and Drivers, Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) to visit transport terminals to interact with the leadership of transport operators as part of the Commission’s program to ensure that passengers are safely transported by road to their various destinations during this Easter.

The terminals visited included the VIP terminal, Neoplan Station, VVIP terminal (all at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle), Intercity STC, Metro Mass Transit Limited and the Takoradi Ford Station in Kaneshie.

At all the Car terminals visited, officials of the three Institutions took turns to address the Union leaders.

Ing. David Osafo Adonteng, Director, Planning and Programmes (NRSC), said the visit was basically to encourage the operators on their efforts to observe high safety standards, but there was still the need to remind them of the rising spate of accidents which was quite alarming, and had become a nationwide concern.

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He added that, with the accidents that have occurred recently, majority were as a result of bad driving practices such as over speeding, uncalculated overtaking and fatigue.

He mentioned that, for instance the accident that happened on the Apam-Winneba road some weeks back, investigations available to the Commission revealed that, it was as a result of over speeding.

According to him, stakeholders are doing a lot in educating and sensitizing the public, however, if this would be materialized, then much depends on the shoulders of drivers.

He pleaded with the leaders that, the passengers who patronize their services want to reach their destinations safely so they should make sure they make that happens.

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He advised that, in order to ensure sanity among the attitudes of the drivers, the Union leaders can introduce sanctions to be meted out to drivers who flout the orders, so as to have high ethical standards.

Mr. Alexander Kweku Obeng, the Greater Regional Commander of the MTTD on his part said, the nation’s work force are being driven by drivers.
He added that with such a role, a little mistake on the part of drivers could cause a lot of havoc for the country.

He noted that just in a week, surveillance record revealed that, cars involved in accidents were 150 a week, out of which 53 death cases were recorded.

Also, 72 pedestrian car knockdown cases were recorded within that same spate of time. He bemoaned this situation saying it is disturbing and alarming. He also advised that advanced warning devices such reflectors on cars and triangles are to be maintained in cases where faulty cars are packed on the road.

Mr. Thomas Ntori, a DVLA official with the team, was concerned about things a driver needs to do or consider before moving a car. According to him, a driver must check the car thoroughly in the morning making sure that everything is alright before moving it.

He also allayed the fears of drivers who as a result of time and the busy nature of their work cannot afford to waste time going to the DVLA office to renew their licenses, saying that DVLA now has a Mobile Service currently in operation that has brought the service right to their doorsteps. He therefore advised that drivers must not wait for their license to completely expire before renewal.

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Leaders of driver and transport unions were also given the platform to make their concerns known to the stakeholders.

Primarily, one concern that came through at all the terminals visited was the challenges involved in the acquisition and renewal of drivers’ licenses.
The concern was that, with the current computerization system, it goes against many of these divers who are either illiterate or semi-illiterate, and therefore cannot read or write.

According to the leaders, the systems now require that one goes to a driving school before a driver’s license is issued to the person.
The team after every talk gave out a booklet which is a Road Safety Communication Guide for Transport Operators containing all the safety practices that were shared with them on the outreach programme to be a guide while they also impact the knowledge to their members (Drivers).

Also stickers with road safety messages were handed over to them to use on their cars to further propagate the message while on wheels.

The two-day outreach programme in the Accra from the 23rd to the 24th March 2017 ended the first phase of planned programmmes and activities aimed at preventing accidents on the country’s roads prior to the Easter festivities.

The second phase commences from the 4th to 5th April and would have the team visit the Tudu Station, Tema Station, Ho Station, Tema Main Station and Ashiaman Station all in Accra Central.

There would also be the official launch of the Easter Safety Campaign at Kpong Main station in the Eastern Region on a proposed date of 11th April 2017.

By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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DVLA introduces driving programme for tertiary students https://citifmonline.com/2017/02/dvla-introduces-driving-programme-for-tertiary-students/ Tue, 21 Feb 2017 15:30:45 +0000 http://citifmonline.com/?p=296102 The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has introduced a programme dubbed: “Tertiary Drive” (TertDrive), to afford tertiary students the opportunity to learn how to drive while in school. The programme, estimated to benefit 150,000 students annually, will ensure that the students graduate with their certificates alongside a genuine driving license acquired in a hassle-free […]

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The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has introduced a programme dubbed: “Tertiary Drive” (TertDrive), to afford tertiary students the opportunity to learn how to drive while in school.

The programme, estimated to benefit 150,000 students annually, will ensure that the students graduate with their certificates alongside a genuine driving license acquired in a hassle-free environment.

A statement from the Public Relations Department of the DVLA said the product was developed in response to the growing need of tertiary students to obtain a genuine driver’s license before the completion of their respective academic and professional studies.

“All processes leading to the acquisition of a driving license, such as training, testing, personalisation and issuance of the license will be done on campus.

The move forms part of the country’s National Road Safety Strategy of improving road safety management, ensuring safer mobility, safer vehicles, and safer road users,” it said.

“TertDrive has been specially designed for students in tertiary institutions as a means of adding value to their academic and professional qualifications. It is affordable and convenient,” the statement said.

It said “the DVLA will support institutions that will take advantage of this product to use their institutions for training. Participating institutions would be required to provide a classroom for the theory aspect of the training and a dedicated place for its practical training.”

The concept offers a complete solution to the acquisition of a genuine driver’s licence and prevents the tendency where applicant fall victim to the activities of “Goro operatives” (Middlemen).

The statement explained that TertDrive will give students an added advantage over other competitors who were equally qualified but have no driving skills or driver’s license and improve their chances of employment.

“This could best be described, as a cutting-edge approach that is; acquiring educational qualification and a driver’s license readily within the same period.”

The statement said: “to enroll on the program, a student must be 18years and above, physically and mentally fit to drive, provide an admission letter, a valid national identification card, including a passport, and a resident permit (in the case of foreign students).

Students will pay the exact statutory amount the public pays, which now stands at GHs240, to get their drivers’ license. They will, however, enjoy some discount on the GHs 600 which is now paid at some driving schools.

It said the DVLA’s focus is to ensure best practices for licensing drivers and vehicles to promote road safety and environmental sustainability, while pursuing integrity, excellence, professionalism and reliability in service delivery.

Source: GNA

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