Regional News of Tuesday, 21 December 2021
Source: Mcanthony Dagyenga, Contributor
The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) in the Eastern Region has cautioned road users, especially drivers, to stop what it terms as "bonsam adwuma" or "evil acts" on the roads.
According to the NRSA, any untoward act against road traffic regulations that can eventually lead to road accidents are acts of evil and that "motorists must desist from such."
Throwing this caution at drivers during the launch of the 2021 "Stay Alive" road safety campaign toward the yuletide, the Eastern Regional Manager for NRSA, Dennis Yeribu, reminded the drivers and road users that their utmost duty is to be more responsible on the roads.
He posited that per available research, the accidents being recorded on Ghana's roads are mainly caused by human errors and not by technical or engineering faults, thus, the need for road users to be more responsible.
"The road accident statistics are still not good nationwide and regionally and we are more passionate to address this anomaly.
"Over 2000 lives lost in the country to road accidents only in 2021, and 433 out of this number was unfortunately from the Eastern Region which is really worrying.
"For us at NRSA, as well as our stakeholders, we have been working tirelessly to educate motorists and we fastened our enforcement activities in the year but some drivers tend to remain recalcitrant.
"We are not going to allow any driver or road user to perpetrate evil acts on our roads, especially during this festive season and beyond. While at it, we want to caution all road users to play their role to help in stopping the evil acts on our roads.
"Let's stop the "bonsam adwuma" together to make the roads conducive for all," Mr. Yeribu said.
On his part, the Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Stephen Ahiatafu, reiterated that the fatality statistics in the region was not the best as it surpassed that of the previous year.
He blamed it on drivers' indiscipline acts on the roads including overspeeding, drink driving, wrongful overtaking, and driving without a license among others.
Chief Superintendent Ahiatafu said his outfit would further up their enforcement activities to ensure that better statistics is attained during the yuletide and in the future.