Twelve killed in 26 accidents in January 2004

Kumasi, Jan 28, GNA-Twelve people were killed and 14 injured in 26 reported accident cases in the Ashanti Region from January 1 to date, Chief Superintendent Augustine Gyening, Ashanti Regional Commander of the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), has announced. He said the region recorded 395 deaths and 2,386 injuries in 2,148 reported cases last year.

Speaking at the quarterly meeting of stakeholders in transportation to discuss the accident situation during the last quarter of 2003 and other related issues in Kumasi on Wednesday, he observed that drivers were not obeying traffic regulations.

Mr Gyening said the Kumasi metropolis alone had 13 cases with four deaths and nine injuries, while Mamponteng had four reported, with three deaths and one injury and Abuakwa recorded three accident cases where two people died and one was injured.

The Regional MTTU Commander indicated that Konongo recorded five cases with three deaths and two injured while Agogo had one case, which did not result in death.

He attributed most of the accidents to overloading and excessive speeding, the use of spare drivers, used tyres and drivers not observing traffic regulations.

Mr Gyening asked station masters to ensure that vehicles brought to the stations to be loaded were roadworthy before they are loaded. Mr Daniel Atta-Boafo, Kumasi Metropolitan Transport Officer, appealed to the MTTU and the road safety campaigners to intensify education of drivers.

He urged the various transport unions in the metropolis to educate their members regularly so as to bring sanity into the transport sector in the region.

Mr Atta-Boafo, who is also the chairman of the Ashanti Region Transport Commission, called on drivers to be very cautious on the road and obey traffic regulations and asked the media to also intensify their education on road safety.

Mr Charles Abunyewah, the Public Relations Officer of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the Northern Sector, advised drivers and car owners to honour their tax obligations and file their returns regularly. Mr Abraham Tetteh, Ashanti Regional Director of Driver and Vehicle Licencing Division (DVLD) of the Ministry of Roads and Highways, noted that 80 percent of road accidents could be attributed to human errors. He said driving attitudes need to be changed otherwise preventable accidents would continue to occur on the roads, adding that there was the need for drivers to upgrade their licences.