Tema, Sept. 10, GNA – Mr Francis Johnny Amegayibor, former Board member of Drivers and Vehicles License Authority (DVLA) has charged stakeholders in the automobile industry, drivers unions, and security to develop a new road safety culture to help reduce accidents.
“Road Safety Culture involves developing clear and simple to understand values, beliefs, and attitudes that influence road users’ behavours and stakeholder actions.
“Creating a positive safety culture is integral to helping our nation move toward a highway system with no fatalities,” Mr Amegayibor, who is also a Former Treasurer of the Ghana Automobile Distribution Association (GADA), stated at the Tema Office of the Ghana News Agency and the Tema MTTD Road Safety Campaign platform.
Mr Amegayibor who is also a former General Manager of Sliver Star Auto Limited said, road accidents had become very common in the country, so there was the need for holistic effort to reduce it, through development of new culture.
He stated that, studies in the automobile industry indicated that lack of regular vehicular maintenance and service accounted for some of the road accidents, due to the poor vehicular maintenance culture.
He noted that, people ignored what they described as minor faults on their vehicles.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, Tema Regional Manager of GNA, said road accidents were sometimes caused by human factor, nature of the road or condition of the vehicle; all the three factors must work together to make the road safe, “we cannot ignore any of these factors”.
He said “sometimes, drivers don’t even understand the vehicle that they are driving, modern vehicles behave like human beings, they talk to you through mechanical means, warn and alert you of any challenges it is going through but if you ignore it, then you face the consequence on the road.”
Mr Ameyibor said the Tema GNA and MTTD Road Safety Project seeks to create consistent and systematic weekly awareness advocacy on the need to be cautious on the road as a user.
It also seeks to educate all road users of their respective responsibilities, and sensitize drivers especially of the tenets of road safety regulations, rules and laws.
As part of the discussion there was a practical demonstration of the components of tyres, year of manufacture, expiry date on the tyres, and the proper pressure for each tyre.
MTTD accident data for the first half of the year indicated that out of a total of 637 road crashes 445 were private vehicles.
In the first quarter, out of 344 road crashes private vehicles recorded 248 and in the second quarter out of 293 crashes private vehicles recorded 197.
In the first quarter 99 motorcycles were involved in accidents; while in the second quarter the number was 83.
GNA