Most accidents human error
Last Saturday, two of our members of parliament were involved in separate accidents. They are the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Baffour Awuah, and the Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Mr Rockson Dafeamekpor. Mercifully, their lives were spared.
The accidents involving the two are not in isolation. Our roads in recent times have witnessed a rising trend in road accidents.
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Accidents are becoming quite rampant on our roads. Unfortunately, they have become one too many and it looks like the entire nation is no longer bothered about these road crashes. It appears the nation’s conscience is seared as far as road crashes are concerned. The worrying aspect is that the statistics keep rising.
These, otherwise, avoidable accidents seem to strongly suggest that some fundamental issues need to be addressed. And key stakeholders, from policy makers and enforcers, owners of vehicles, drivers and road safety educators cannot escape blame.
Death in its natural form is inevitable and it is a fact accepted by all mankind. However, death that comes through the actions and inaction of human beings is painful, more so when it could have been avoided.
Unfortunately, too many lives have been destroyed through road crashes and from the look of things, there is no end in sight because the nation is yet to come to the realisation that something profound and urgent needs to be done. Regrettably, accidents are seemingly becoming institutionalised in the country and the earlier something drastic is done to reverse the trend, the better.
It is important, however, to turn our eyes on the impact of road crashes to the household level. The impact on a family which loses a loved one is enormous, both in terms of the emotional trauma and loss of income or probable disability.
If a member of a family is involved in a road crash, what kind of changes are likely to occur in that particular family? If the head of a household or breadwinner is killed or severely injured, the impact to that household can be devastating.
Often times, the blame is put on irresponsible drivers for speeding, overtaking at wrong places, defective vehicles, abandoned vehicles on the roads and the failure of law enforcement officers to deal with road traffic offenders, among other reasons.
Is it also not worrying that some of the vehicles with roadworthy certificates could pass as death warrants? How do some of those vehicles pass the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) test and be certified as road worthy?
The Daily Graphic believes that it is time we all came on board as a nation to help deal with the alarming rate of accidents and its attendant fatalities which do not only affect the livelihoods of some families but others who are maimed for life.
Even though the government is investing in road infrastructure, it needs to do much more because we note with great concern that few resources are devoted to road safety education and research.
We suggest that the National Road Safety Authority take the campaign a notch higher and develop road safety campaign messages for drivers targeted at the belief that road crashes are controlled, in part, by fate and destiny. This will help deconstruct the notion that personal safety actions by drivers can do little to prevent road crashes.
The campaign may take the form of persuasive messages through traditional media and social media aimed at drivers. This will target dominant cultural and religious beliefs, norms and value systems from which some superstitious beliefs are thought to arise.
Beyond that, there is the urgent wish to fix our road needs. The issue of dualisation of our highways needs to be taken much more seriously now that road crashes with fatalities are increasing. We know that dualisation of the highways will require serious investments, but that is the way to go, as the current situation is deplorable and we find ourselves where our options are limited.
Definitely, this is the time for collective action to stop the carnage on our roads.