Accra, Sept. 9, GNA – The Richard Yaw Boateng Junior (RYBJ) Foundation in collaboration with the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has called on other motorists to be compassionate to bikers, adding “their lives matter.”
Madam Elsa Owusu-Sarpong, the Founder of RYBJ Foundation, said a lot of times there were stereotypes and stigmatisation on the road regarding motorists.
Madam Owusu-Sarpong said this during a road safety campaign exercise in honour of Richard Yaw Boateng Junior, who lost his precious life through a motor accident on September 8, 2022.
said she founded the Foundation in his son’s name to focus on the education of motorcyclists on the safety on the road.
She said today marked exactly the second anniversary of his passing and they were organising the road safety campaign dubbed “Richard’s Life Mattered,” engaging with all the other road users, with cars, other motorists and the pedestrians.
The Founder said the Foundation was engaging with everyone, giving flyers, stickers, “talking to them, telling them that we are all supposed to look out for each other and be considerate for each other.”
The Founder urged motorists to ride with their five essential riding gears, including helmet, pallet riding jacket, riding gloves, knee guard and riding boots, calling on them to always ride a motorcycle in good, well-maintained condition and be careful on the roads.
She said there was no rush in riding, they needed to be considerate of the others, who were also considerate and trained at a proper riding school to learn how to ride the right way.
She said authorities must intensify measures for strict punishment for road traffic offenders.
“The other road users do not give a lot of respect to the motorist, because they do not consider us as road users sometimes,,” she added.
She appealed to the government and all other authorities and agencies to help them to put more rules and strategies in place to help make lives safer on the roads.
“This is a campaign that is going to continue for the rest of my life, and everybody is invited to join,” she said.
Mr Dennis Yeribu, the Principal Planning Manager, NRSA said the Authority had developed Road Safety Code for Political Parties ahead of the 2024 elections.
Data available to the NRSA indicate that the country records high road crashes during election periods as political actors go around the country to conduct campaigns.
He said the rush to get to their various destinations to engage voters makes political actors forget road safety regulations leading to crashes.
He said the Authority had engaged representatives of political parties to deliberate on measures to curb road crashes and reduce fatalities ahead of the December 7, 2024, general elections.
The NRSA called the meeting to seek their input and contributions to the code of practice for political activities which is a blueprint to manage road safety during political activities.
Mr Yeribu said the Authority had over the years observed many infractions or increased thereof; during the campaign season such as people climbing the top of vehicles, over-speeding, wrongful overtaking, riding without helmets, motorbike stunts, and unnecessary touting of horns which distracts other road users and fatigue driving.
He said it was important to stay alive and vote and elect new leaders to govern the country.
He said the call was for Ghanaians to rise and fight the canker of motor rider deaths, adding that “young, brilliant chaps are losing their lives on the road.”
He said in the last four years, the country lost more than 1,500 motor riders and those were the ones on record.
GNA