By Eunice Hilda A. Mensah
Accra, Dec.03, GNA – Vodafone Ghana in partnership with the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has commenced a campaign dubbed: “The 100 Percent Home Safe” campaign to promote road accident free Christmas and New Year festivity.
The campaign was birthed out of an internal strategy used by Vodafone Ghana to prevent road crash to achieve zero injuries and fatalities among its staff for a 100 per cent accident-free road usage for years.
Mr Daniel Adanu, Health and Safety Manager, Vodafone Ghana, said Vodafone mandated its staff, vendors, suppliers and contractors to obey speed limits on the road, wearseatbelts before moving a car, desist from using hand-held devices while driving and stay off alcohol before and during driving.
He said using hand-held devices like mobile phone while driving was equivalent to drunk driving.
“There is nothing like he or she is an experienced driver andso can speed, nothing justifies speeding. Therefore, complacency on the road is wrong. Life is just one and when you lose it, there is no second chance,” he said.
Mr Adanu said Vodafone also fixed trackers in vehicles of its staff and official vehicles to monitor when driver dozed off, sped or stepped on break suddenly.
He advised that drivers maintained their cars and checked them thoroughly and encouraged the GPRTU to adopt the strategy used by Vodafone Ghana to ensure that drivers drove with discipline, adding: “Let them check their vehicles thoroughly every morning before moving it to prevent negative surprises.”
Ms Hannah Ashiokai Akrong, the Human Resource Director, Vodafone Ghana, said 2,924 lives were lost through road crashes in 2021 to driving and texting, drunk driving, and driver fatigue according to the NRSA.
In addition to the safety campaign, she said Vodafone wouldpresent a reward to the driver with the best safety record put together by the Ghana Private Road Transport Union(GPRTU).
Mr Felix Owusu, a representative of the NRSA, said although nationwide road crashes had reduced, pedestrian accidents and deaths in the Greater Accra region kept increasing.
He said 204 out of 429 pedestrians knocked by motorists lost their lives in the region this year.
Almost 90 per cent of road crashes, he said, were due to human errors such as careless and inconsiderate driving, destructive driving and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and usage of hand-held mobile devices, which led to speeding.
He said blood alcohol concentration of as little as 0.08 per cent caused impaired driving and reduced the driver’s physical ability to operate and control the vehicle.
Mr Owusu said road accidents caused bread winners in families to lose their lives, a situation which cost the nation huge sums of money to cater for victims..
He urged drivers to be disciplined on the road and refrain from drinking alcohol before or during driving to prevent crashes.
The NRSA, he said, would strengthen enforcement on roads during Christmas festivity to detect drunk drivers and other road regulation offenders.
He commended Vodafone Ghana for putting resources and measures in place to promote road user safety.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr Sayibu Gariba, Greater Accra Regional Commander, Motor Traffic and Transport Department, Ghana Police Service, in a submission made on his behalf, admonished leaders of churches, mosques and other religious bodies to dedicate time within their moments of worship to preach road safety measures and the need to be responsible on roads to protect lives.
GNA