The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) on Wednesday launched the 2012 edition of the National Road Safety Awards (NRSA) in Accra to raise the profile of road safety in the country.

The awards day, under the auspices of the Ministry of Transport, is scheduled for Wednesday October 3rd on the theme: “Sustainable Road Transportation system - The Role of Road Safety”.

Mrs. May Obiri-Yeboah, Chairperson of NRSA Planning Committee, launching the awards, said it was to encourage transport operators to mainstream institutional best practices that delivered road safety to patrons of their services, as well as reward other stakeholders for their efforts towards road safety in the country.

She said the category for transport unions and organizations would be based on criteria that ensured high operational standards and improved driver and vehicle safety.

“The awards for the transport unions and organizations are institutional in nature as opposed to individual drivers. This is because the road safety challenge is beyond the drivers and individuals. It will only take strong transport institutions to deliver and sustain an efficient transport system for the public good.”

Mrs. Obiri-Yeboah mentioned that there would be regional awards for transport organizations out of which the National Best Transport Organization would be selected.

She indicated that in appreciation of the contribution of the media towards an improvement in road safety in the country, this year’s awards would not only celebrate media houses from print, radio and television, but would also award journalists who distinguished themselves in road safety reporting in the course of the year.

“Journalists are invited to submit entries of road safety related news stories, feature articles, editorials, documentaries and discussion programmes published or aired from November 1, 2011 to August 30, 2012.