THE Eastern Region with a population of approximately 2.5 million is one of the 10 political entities with a well-developed road network.
It has 1,453 kilometres of well-maintained trunk roads and 3,150 kilometres of feeder roads, most of which are passable throughout the year.
Such a good road network said to be among the best in the country, with few dangerous spots such as the Suhum Roundabout on the main Accra-Kumasi Highway and the Amanprobi curve near Mamfe on the Koforidua-Mamfe Road, should under normal circumstances have limited number of vehicular accidents.
However, various factors particularly the inability of motorists, especially commercial drivers, to adhere to traffic regulations has resulted in a high rate of motor accidents, making the region the graveyard of not only passengers but pedestrians.
For instance between January and December, 2007, 1,307 motor accidents involving 1,570 vehicles were recorded in the region in which 215 people lost their lives and 1,568 sustained various degrees of injury.
The following year (2008) the number of deaths increased to 245 while 1,465 were injured with 322 of them in serious conditions.
A worrying aspect of the 2008 accidents is that 86 of the dead comprising 62 males and 24 females were knocked down by vehicles along the streets in towns and villages.
That was because drivers of such vehicles did not comply with traffic regulations that stipulate that they should not exceed 50 kilometres while driving through towns and villages.
To help minimise the motor accidents, a number of organisations such as the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Police, the Regional Office of the Road Safety Commission and the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) have for the past year being taking measures to address the calamity.
The MTTU, under the command of Superintendent J. Sarfo Peprah, has for instance put personnel at vantage points throughout the region, especially in the centre of municipalities and towns that have heavy concentration of people.
They include Koforidua, Akyem Oda, Somanya, Nkawkaw, Asamankese and Suhum, as well as many villages dotted along the highways.
The policemen, who have been instructed to ensure that drivers observe traffic regulations as enshrined in the Road Traffic Act 683 (2004), are also mandated to see to it that all vehicles plying the roads are roadworthy.
“Most of the roads are good and under normal circumstances should not be death traps but a lot of accidents occur due to the recklessness of drivers some of who do not obey the regulations as enshrined in the Road Traffic Act so we will always be on guard to see that the proper thing is done.
“We will also ensure that the law takes its course on recalcitrant drivers most of who should also be well educated on road safety,” Superintendent Peprah stated.
Superintendent Peprah, who had just celebrated 60 days in office as the regional MTTU boss, said his men would now be using a special equipment, the falcon radar gun, an improved version of the radar gun that was previously used to check speeding on the roads.
He, however, stated that since it was not possible to station policemen at all vantage points to check drivers who would disregard traffic regulations, the travelling public must also play a part by prevailing on drivers to adhere to speed limits.
The GPRTU, the oldest and best organised private road transport organisation, on its part has now intensified its road safety awareness programme to ensure that its members do the right thing at all times.
According to the Principal Industrial Relations Officer at the regional secretariat of the union, Mr Salifu Alhassan, officers at the various stations of the union ensure that vehicles do not overtake one another in a rush to offload and re-load passengers.
“Most of the time it is only drivers of vehicles that go in for passengers along the road who over-speed to overtake one another leading to accidents and so far as such a trend picks up, accidents will continue to occur,” Mr Alhassan stated.
The regional office of the Road Safety Commission under Mr Stephen Anokye has also of late intensified education on road safety at various lorry parks, notably Kpong, Koforidua, Nkawkaw and Akyem Oda where a lot of drivers have been schooled on what to do to avoid motor accidents.
Mr Anokye’s outfit in collaboration with the MTTU and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has also in addition planned to establish a drivers’ academy at Koforidua this year to offer theoretical training on road safety to drivers.
The school, to be christened Eastern Regional Drivers’ Academy, would also educate drivers on the psychological effects of motor accidents so that they would be mindful of their recklessness on the road.
Although these relevant stakeholders have done what is expected of them to reduce the high rate of motor accidents in the region, much depends on the drivers to ensure decency on the roads.
This is because such bad drivers, some of who are not even licensed to drive, would continue to be at the steering wheel, posing a big danger to other road users.
It is therefore expected that the new government would re-examine the issue carefully so that the prescribed penalty which would deter drivers from going “wayward” would be given to offenders.
This will go a long way in keeping drivers on track to curb the high rate of vehicular accidents in the region.
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