Passengers have a role in ensuring road safety - Kussachin

Winneba (C/R), March 5, GNA - Mr Kofi Kussachin, Effutu Municipal Co-ordinating Director, said passengers had a role to play in ensuring road safety. Mr Kussachin said this at the inauguration of the Central Regional Branch of Ghana National Association of Passengers (GHANAPASS) at Winneba. It was attended by a cross-section of the public including hairdressers, dress makers, drivers, fishermen, fish mongers and school children.

The 16-member Executive is chaired by Mr Edukuma Dennis. Mr Kussachin said passengers had the right to report the conduct of a driver who misbehaved on the road to the police either at the police statio= n or any security check point on the road.

Mr Kussachin appealed to passengers to always have the courage to advice drivers who drove wrongly or who did not observe driving regulations= .. He condemned passengers who blamed their colleagues that drew the attention of drivers to their mistakes. The Co-ordinating Director urged passengers, especially those occupyin= g the front seat of the vehicle, not to engage the driver in unnecessary conversation since this could bring about accident. He said the nation needed everybody alive and therefore called on both drivers and passengers to cooperate to ensure safety on the road, adding that drivers should avoid reckless driving on the road to avoid accidents. Mr Fredrick Pinto, National Chairman of GHANAPASS, said the Associatio= n has been formed to be the mouth peace of the passengers. He said the Road Safety Law 761 empowered the passenger to report any indiscipline driver on the road to the police for prosecution. Mr Alfred A. Acheampong, Winneba District Officer-In-Charge of Ghana Fire Service, advised the general public to call the Fire Service Personnel and the Police when accident occurred. Personnel from these institutions have been specially trained to handl= e accidents victims, he said.

Nana Oboosu II, Chairman of the Winneba branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) of the Trades Union Congress, who chaired the programme, promised that his out fit would cooperate with the association t= o achieve it aims and objectives.