THE CARNAGE MUST STOP (FRIDAY, MARCH 20)

THE nation mourns yet again after precious lives were lost in some horrific accidents last Wednesday.
Increasingly, these accidents are becoming a regular feature on our roads and, for the umpteenth time, the whole nation has been thrown into a state of despair as questions continue to be asked about how best the issue can be addressed.
Indeed, the causes of these accidents are not far fetched and most of the time we are quick to identify them immediately after the accidents occur.
But, quite ironically, these accidents keep recurring in similar manner, despite the findings of committees set up to investigate previous ones with the view to preventing their recurrence.
On many of our roads, signposts displaying speed limits have become beautification showpieces, as very few motorists obey them; drivers reeling of liquor and in stupor turn on the wheels with reckless glee as our roads, many in very good conditions, provide festering ground for human slaughter in the name of motor accidents.
On the Motorway and other asphaltic roads, some motorists believe that they can speed till the accelerator can take it no more, when it is expressly stated that the speed limit is 100 km/h. Unlicensed drivers take to the wheels and go on adventure on the streets, turning the roads into death traps.
The latest carnage should drive us into some serious thinking and analysis of how best to address the causes of these accidents in the short, medium and long terms.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that the enforcement of basic traffic regulations is still a very grey area that needs urgent attention.
The recklessness on our streets is attaining dizzying heights and a radical and consistent approach to effectively manag the use of our roads by motorists is critical to reversing a very disturbing trend.
In this endeavour, it may be helpful for the relevant security agencies to employ the use of electronic surveillance gadgets to track the activities of motorists on a 24-hour basis.
The money spent on road accidents a year makes it imperative that the nation invests in electronic surveillance, as that has proved to be very effective in monitoring the activities of motorists and holding them in check in developed countries.
The Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service must also show greater commitment to address these challenges by first positioning itself as a very professional unit with personnel who will chart a new era of religious enforcement of traffic regulations.
The MTTU should intensify its decision to deploy more personnel on the roads because indications are that motorists tend to respect the regulations when they know of police presence on the roads.
It is heart-warming to note that President John Evans Atta Mills has called an emergency meeting of all the stakeholders in the road and transport sector to find solutions to the carnage which has generated anxiety among Ghanaians.
The DAILY GRAPHIC hopes that such a well-intentioned initiative will encourage transport unions to take action to stem indiscipline on our roads and restore sanity to help prevent the loss of precious lives.
While mourning those who have so far lost their lives in road accidents, the DAILY GRAPHIC urges the police to act swiftly to restore order on the roads and their rod should not spare articulated trucks from neighbouring countries that carry goods in utter disregard of the stipulated axle load.