Billboards, potential cause of road accident

By: Fynn, Abigail Abekah

A major contributor to road carnage can be billboards and their positioning on our roads and their abandonment when they require repair or left standing standing when they have obviously done serving their purpose.

City authorities seem to be much more interested in the revenue the billboards can generate than actively implementing measures to curb possible hazards this pose to the citizenry.

There have been series of cases where fatal accidents are caused by distraction and collapsing of bill boards, some causing traffic jam as a result . It also bring down kiosk, metal containers and other wooden structures sited along the roads, telephone and electricity cables also fall of their poles, plunging most homes and institutions into darkness.

Obviously these become a drain on national resources as City authorities are left with not much options than to spend their already limited resources to clean the mess.

There will be enough blame to apportion the all stakeholders especially the advertising Association of Ghana .They appear merely interested in charging fees charged to erect bill boards than what happens afterwards.

In looking at the way forward, billboards must be made smaller, placed in houses, where owners of those houses are paid some stipend and also they can be placed on farmlands near highways to avoid damaging houses or properties.

Finally, the National Road Safety Commission, the Ghana Highways Authority, the Police and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly must work hand in hand to ensure our safety.


Abigail Abekah Fynn|ahotoronline.com|Ghana