Government urged to prioritize road safety

The maiden national forum on pedestrian safety ended in Accra with a call on government and other stakeholders to prioritize road safety audit to curb road accidents.

Organised by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) in collaboration with Joy FM, the forum was part of activities to raise the profile of pedestrian safety.

It was also part of the 60-day “Be Alert! Look out for other road users” national pedestrian safety campaign.

A press statement signed by Mr Kwame Koduah Atuahene, Communications Manager, NRSC, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said participants detected a gap in the enforcement of relevant pedestrian related laws.

“Civil society actors deplore the low priority given to the enforcement of laws that enhance pedestrian safety and road audit practices that segregate and protect pedestrians while reducing their vulnerability to collisions and deaths,” the statement said.

It said the government must develop a policy that would encourage corporate social responsibility in the area of road safety while it also reviewed the mandate of the commission to demand compliance with road safety audit recommendations, to prevent pedestrian vehicular collisions and deaths.

“How do you expect the police to work when basic road line marking that segregates pedestrian lanes from roadway are not available? It is wrong to assign traffic enforcement duties to only the Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD) of the Police. Rather, we should consider mandating all security agencies to enforce traffic rules,” Mr Kapito, Executive Director of Consumer Protection Agency, was quoted in the statement.

Mr Magnus Quarshie, President-elect of the Ghana Institution of Engineers indicated: ”In Ghana, too often, the infrastructure does not support the pedestrian. Today the trend is that infrastructure must take care of all road users.

“In the last two years, we find that line markings and pedestrian crossings have faded and have been painted. How do we expect to reduce pedestrian deaths at this rate? It won’t happen. We need to consider road safety as paramount as an election year in Ghana”.

Each year, about 2,000 persons are killed through road accidents. Pedestrian deaths account for an average of 43% of all road traffic deaths while 23% of all pedestrian deaths affect children who usually lack the knowledge and skill to manage perceived and actual road safety risks.