CARNAGE ON ROADS AVOIDABLE (JAN 10, 2011)

THE statistics from the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) paint a very grim picture of safety on our roads. It is becoming increasingly clear that some reckless motorists want to turn our roads into death traps.
Sometimes we find an alibi for accidents in the poor nature of roads in some parts of the country but accidents on our roads do not support this line of argument.
Just last weekend seven persons, including three chiefs, lost their lives near Apedwa in the Eastern Region through the recklessness of a driver who had left a break-down vehicle without any warning signs on the Apedwa-Kumasi highway.
We have been told by the experts that most accidents are due to the negligence of reckless road users while mechanical faults account for very negligible percentage of road accidents.
Elsewhere in so-called advanced society, road users are not allowed to take the law into their own hands, but unfortunately in Ghana, motorists and, in some cases, pedestrians break road traffic regulations with impunity.
The country can boast institutions such as the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), Department of Feeder Roads and indeed the supervising ministry, the Ministry of Roads and Highways charged with the responsibility to enforce compliance with road traffic regulations as well as provide the structures for road safety.
The Daily Graphic believes that there is recklessness on our roads because some officials of these institutions have turned a blind eye to the utter disregard for traffic regulations.
Police presence can be noticed on all major roads every day and yet rickety vehicles, overloaded vehicles, speeding and disrespect for other traffic regulations are the order of the day. We are paying the ultimate price for our inaction so it is time for us to act.
We urge all road users to turn on a new leaf this year and vow in support of the declaration of 2011 as an action year to mend their ways so that the needless accidents and loss of lives would be a thing of the past.
We need every human soul to help in the agenda of the government to reconstruct the country to ensure better living conditions for the people. But first we must appreciate that compliance with road traffic regulations would not come if the law enforcement agencies refuse to apply the law.
The Daily Graphic appeals to the police and other law enforcement agencies to be ruthless with those who have decided to make travelling on the highway a nightmare and a journey of no return.
We also call on motorists and pedestrians to respect road traffic regulations to save lives on our roads.
On many occasions, some passengers had urged drivers to do the wrong thing. Such group of passengers who always want to get to their destination fast should note that it is always better to be late rather than the Late so and so. Drivers who drive even when they are tired and sleepy must remember the popular adage, “Never drive tired”.