‘Ban heavy-duty vehicles during Easter’

A road safety campaigner has called for a restriction on heavy-duty vehicles during the Easter period to reduce the chances of road accidents.

Alhaji Mohammed Musah, who is also the Managing Director of Mohammed Broadcasting Limited which operates Unity FM at Kwahu Atibie, said the high incidence of road accidents needed drastic measures to contain the situation.

“To avoid or reduce traffic jams and road accidents, heavy-duty vehicles should be stopped from using the roads during the Easter period,” he advised.

Speaking to the Graphic Online as part of Unity FM’s road safety campaign towards an accident-free Easter period, Alhaji Musah also cautioned motorists to be mindful of tendencies that were likely to cause road accidents during the festivities.

Unity FM, established in October 2016, has adopted the road safety campaign as a corporate social responsibility for this year’s Easter period, having previously organised programmes such as health screening and health walk on other occasions.

Easter/Christmas fatalities

Road accidents are a major cause of deaths in Ghana and cases are said to rise during festivities such as Easter and Christmas. According to Alhaji Musah, the objective of the campaign was to reduce accidents on the roads.

According to statistics from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), there were 2,126 vehicle crashes in January and February this year alone, with 411 fatalities and 2,440 injuries of varying degrees.

Meanwhile, Ghana spends up to an estimated $230 million every year treating injuries and traffic fatalities.

Alhaji Musah said road accidents and traffic jams occurred regularly around Kwahu - the centre of many Easter fun activities - during the period, many times involving heavy vehicles.

Working together

According to Alhaji Musah, it had become a norm in Ghana that at Easter more road crashes occurred with fatalities across the country.

He, therefore, called on stakeholders to come on board to ensure that road accidents were minimised this year.

He also spoke against the conduct of motorists and other road users, including pedestrians, that had been identified as the causes of road accidents.

“Most of the road networks are usually busy during such periods because of the tradition of travel by the people, which increases the risk of accidents. The situation is made worse by the poor understanding and awareness of road signs, ill-maintained vehicles, the quest of motorists, especially commercial vehicles, to make money by speeding to and fro, and poor driving habits, including drink-driving,” he said.

Easter at Kwahu

Easter at Kwahu has become an annual celebration where people from all walks of life, including foreign tourists, throng the Kwahu hills to spend the season.

Alhaji Musah advised persons travelling to Kwahu for Easter to be moderate in everything to avoid accidents.