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12.12.2014 Feature Article

In The Jaws Of Death

In The Jaws Of Death
12.12.2014 LISTEN

It is quite worth noting that not a single day passes without our ears and eyes bombarded with the horrors emanating from the carnages that occur on our roads. Many innocent lives continue to be lost and it seems the country looks on unperturbed at this disturbing trend with a possibility of a hiatus far fetched.

Losing some family members, friends and colleagues, I deem it much propelling to join the debate and posit my stance on this issue which has not only attained the status of a canker but has rendered several people widows and orphans.

To start with I must admit that I do not subscribe to the superstitious connotations accorded such distasteful happenings. I believe it is purely human-made and as such have a right to blame all stakeholders involved- drivers, police, passengers, institutions, road contractors among others.

It is undisputed that close to half the number of vehicles plying our road does not even deserve to be reduced to scraps. It still beat my imagination how such vehicles are sanctioned as road worthy only to get on our roads to kill people. Such dilapidated vehicles which will not be even used to carry corpses in their place of origin are imported into the country with the full glare of our custom officials to be used as transportation.

The vehicles are able to be cleared from our ports once the duty is paid on them. The relevant institutions like the police and Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority which should know better also sleep on the job giving a field day to such vehicles to cause mayhem.

Also, it is on record that the bad roads across our country contribute significantly to the ascendency of accidents. Our roads are rendered useless after just a short time of construction. The roads are spotted with numerous potholes which clearly exhibit the shoddy work contractors undertake. It thus questions the relevant entities who should be monitoring the activities of these contractors whether the country gets value for its money looking at the huge sums used to bankroll road projects. Lives can not be lost for the mere fact that a contractor did not perform his duties well and is still paid the money whiles the necessary entities look on.

Moreover some drivers drink heavily before sitting behind the wheel. At every lorry station across the country, one could easily spot a drinking pub which is heavily patronised by the drivers thereby questioning our seriousness to fight the accident menace. Some drivers also in their quest to rake in more money drive several hours without resting and thus endangering the lives of the occupants of the vehicles. They think they can swerve nature without rest but then not only do they loose that bet, the lives of the occupants may be included. Some drivers also want to arrive at their long destinations within a short time thereby necessitating over speeding and the disregard of traffic laws among others. It is fascinating to note that passengers who should be checking the driver is disciplined on our roads tend to encourage the driver to speed as they race against time to reach their individual destinations. If such things happen we all know the end results.

My take on the other institutions like the National Road Safety Commission is the fact that not much is done in the safety campaigns across the country. These institutions are impeded by lack of staff, logistics and skills to perform their mandate. It is also common knowledge that they are under resourced financially thereby rendering them incapable to execute their work. They only appear on the news to campaign during Christmas and Easter festivities since by their calculation such occasions are susceptible to accidents.

These are just a few situations happening right in our faces which have claimed lots of lives and the earlier we do something to ameliorate the situation the better for us all.

Intensive campaign needs to be splash across the country to make sure that every corner gets the message. Drinking pubs must be checked so as not to sell alcohol to drivers who are about to embark on a journey. The police must also make sure that drivers adhere to traffic laws with those flouting them sent to courts for prosecution. It must rise above all odds since it is a major stakeholder in this case. Our custom officials must also make sure that only healthy vehicles are imported into the country with their counterparts in the Vehicle Licence also making sure that only strong vehicles are sanctioned as road worthy with a stipulated time been fixed to ensure that these dilapidated vehicles fade out of the system. My advice to passengers is to check the driver always to make sure that their lives are not endangered.

Ghana needs everyone to spearhead the development it has embarked upon and it will be inimical if we continue to loose many citizens to this canker.

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