By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Bolgatanga, June 27, GNA – Mr Akamugri Donatus Atanga, the Upper East Regional Minister, has proposed that motorbike riders caught without helmets be required to buy one at police checkpoints before continuing their journey to improve compliance with helmet regulations.
He said the approach would significantly improve compliance with helmet regulations, reduce fatalities resulting from motorcycle crashes, and eliminate interference by influential persons who often intervene when offenders are arrested.
The Minister made the proposal when Mr Abraham Amaliba, Director-General of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), paid a courtesy call on him in Bolgatanga as part of a nationwide stakeholder engagement tour.
Mr Atanga observed that despite sustained public education campaigns, many motorcycle riders in the Upper East Region continued to ride without protective helmets, a major contributor to road traffic fatalities in the region.
He proposed that the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), in collaboration with the NRSA, should stock helmets at enforcement checkpoints and compel offenders to purchase one before retrieving their motorcycles.
“The quickest way to address this and get the people to wear helmets is to make sure that we provide them there.
“When they come and you are without a helmet, they collect your motorbike, then force you to buy the helmet before you are allowed to move. The next time you come without a helmet, you buy another one,” he explained.
According to the Minister, the arrangement would discourage repeat offenders while generating revenue for the Authority to support its road safety programmes.
“In that case, the Road Safety Authority will be generating funds. If a politician or any stakeholder who has taken it as his duty is called to intervene, what can he do? The rider has already bought the helmet,” he stated.
Mr Atanga also endorsed the NRSA’s plan to remove the human element from traffic law enforcement through the introduction of the Traffic Tech technology-driven enforcement system, saying the innovation would minimise undue influence and improve compliance.
He appealed to influential members of society, including politicians, religious leaders, and transport union executives, to desist from interfering when traffic offenders were arrested.
“The purpose of the arrest is to prevent them from losing their lives. We have to allow the law to take its course,” he stressed.
The Minister said the Regional Coordinating Council would continue to support initiatives aimed at reducing road crashes through sustained public education and the strict enforcement of road traffic regulations.
For his part, the Director-General of the NRSA expressed concern over the increasing number of road traffic fatalities across the country and announced a series of reforms aimed at improving road safety.
The reforms include the nationwide rollout of the Traffic Tech technology-driven enforcement system, the mandatory towing of broken-down vehicles under Legislative Instrument (LI) 2519, intensified road safety education, and the appointment of Regional Ministers as well as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives as Road Safety Ambassadors.
Mr Amaliba also appealed to politicians to stop intervening when motorists, particularly motorbike riders, were arrested for violating road traffic regulations, noting that such interference undermined efforts to save lives on the country’s roads.
The Director-General, accompanied by Mr Martin Afram, Director of Planning and Programmes, Mr Denis Yeribu, Deputy Director of Programmes, and Mr Eric Anokye Fordjour, Acting Upper East Regional Head of the NRSA, also paid courtesy calls on Mr Roland Atanga Ayoo, the Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, the Ghana Police Service, and visited Sumbrungu-Anateem, a road crash-prone community.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/Audrey Dekalu
Writer: Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Writer’s email: [email protected]