Safety on our roads
The general perception that accident has a natural propensity for jumping into man’s affairs, and therefore nothing can be done to avert it, should be eclipsed and consigned to the dustbin of history. Why? Because empirical research has shown that accidents, irrespective of their magnitude or form, do not happen by chance, but rather they are caused.
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To this end, it is heart-warming that the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) is at the centre stage of road safety campaign in the country. It is, therefore, incumbent on us as individuals at the periphery to equally assist in all diverse ways to significantly curb motor accidents on our roads.
As a sequel, the writer, an advocate of road safety, has recently conducted risk assessment on the Accra-Kumasi trunk road of which Kubease emerged as one of the accident-prone areas.
To begin with, I believe it will interest readers to know the etymology of the town Kubease and its location.
Appropriately, in times past, the town Kubease was notable for its vast coconut plantation, hence the name ‘Kubease.’ Be informed that in Akan, coconut is called ‘kube.’
The town Kubease is sandwiched between Konongo and Ejisu on the Accra-Kumasi highway.
The road construction
The constructional features of the road running through Konongo to Ejisu, where Kubease is located, is one of the best straight-ahead roads without sharp curves or potholes that can cause havoc to motorists.
It has been observed that at some point, one can look about two kilometers ahead, due to the straightness of the road.
Additionally, the road is well bounded with damp-proof membrane and filled with gravels and high density bituminous substance, thus making it very compact and strong to withstand any shock loads. Again, there is, as usual, a slight inclination, that is, the road camber of about five inches at the extremities to facilitate water dissipation on the road surface anytime it rains.
Indeed, it is the wish of many a motorist that the road becomes a dual-carriage way so that unnecessary overtaking and its resultant head-on collision, the mother of all motor accidents, will be a thing of the past on this road.
No wonder that there is a tollbooth on the outskirts of Kubease where motorists are obliged to pay toll for plying the road.
However, there are series of gradients therein which inevitably pose a threat or danger to recalcitrant drivers, who are noted for throwing caution to the wind and resort to speeding beyond the stipulated mileage, thus resulting in motor accidents.
One such motor accident occurred on this road recently due to excessive speeding.
Recent motor accidents
Of late, there have been three separate motor accidents on this portion of the road and notable among them is the one involving a Leyland DAF articulated truck and a KIA Sorento 4x4 vehicle.
According to Corporal Cephas Anning of the Ejisu Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), on Friday, May 1, 2015, at about 8:20 a.m., a driver, Lukeman Zakaria, aged 41, was driving an articulated truck with registration number GC 7782-11 with his ‘mate’ on board. The truck, which was loaded with large quantities of bagged cement, was on its way to the northern part of Ghana.
On reaching a section of the road, that is the outskirts of Kubease, near the tollbooth on the Accra-Kumasi highway, it was alleged that vehicles were in a queue as a result of a slow-moving tractor ahead of them.
The articulated truck driver, Mr Zakaria, was however in a rush, so he attempted to overtake the vehicle immediately ahead of him – the KIA Sorento with registration number GR 6186-15 - and in the process, the truck’s rearside hit the rear side of the KIA Sorento so violently that the truck driver lost control and his vehicle veered off the road into a ditch at the side of the road. The driver of the articulated truck went into coma while his mate sustained aggravated body injuries. Both were rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, but driver Lukeman Zakaria was pronounced dead on arrival while the mate was admitted for treatment. The latter has since been discharged.
In his submission, the Divisional Commander of Police, Ejisu District, ASP George Owusu Aboagye, lamented that he did not understand why vehicles still got involved in motor accidents on that stretch of the road. He stressed that the road had been perfectly designed, well tarred and above all being a straight road with no sharp curves that might impede the vision of motorists. He disclosed that the speed of vehicles plying that portion of the road was often higher than the stipulated 70km/hr.
He cautioned drivers to be extremely careful when they were on the road, because it was unthinkable for them to make that portion of the road “an accident-prone area” when that should not have been the case at all. “It is unfortunate though that the driver of the articulated truck lost his life”, he concluded.
The probable cause of the motor accident
The probable cause of the motor accident under review is not hard to see. Indeed, driver Lukeman Zakaria was speeding beyond the speed required for him to conveniently descend the gradient.
The cardinal principle is that when drivers are ascending a gradient, they are compelled by the gradient resistance to use the low gear in order to increase the torque to propel the vehicle forward.
However, when they are descending, with the small vehicles like the 4×4 or saloon cars, which have six-gears, drivers quickly change from low gear to a convenient high gear for uniform acceleration.
Unfortunately, however, this is not applicable to heavy-duty vehicles, more especially when they are fully loaded with goods; like the one under review. Drivers cautiously descend gradient steadily by manipulating the eight-low gears till they get down to the ground level.
The crux of the matter is that a modern articulated truck’s gearbox consists of 16 gear-trains; eight low gears and eight high gears.
It can therefore be deduced from the unfolding revelation that driver Lukeman Zakaria, out of haste, perhaps manipulated the gears to the high one without observing the traffic ahead. Therefore, when he later realised that the vehicles ahead of him were moving slowly and being mindful of the fact that sudden application of the brake would not solve the problem, he consciously tried hard to get out of his lane at all cost to the other lane and in the process, the unexpected happened.
I extend my condolence to the bereaved family. In fact, at age 41, Lukeman Zakaria has just opened a page in his life with youthful exuberance to transform the lives of many, but he is no more.
I conclude on the note that there is a solution to this canker. And one of the best ways is to establish a police checkpoint out there for the police to strictly monitor vehicular movements and apprehend recalcitrant drivers who speed beyond the stipulated mileage.
All told, the above incident should be a subliminal reminder in our conscience so that we drive cautiously whenever we are on the road.
The writer is a road safety advocate.