Vivo Energy Ghana partners NRSA to launch 2022 edition of the 'Stop, Think & Drive' road safety campaign

Vivo Energy Ghana on Thursday, October 6, successfully launched the 2022 edition of the ‘Stop, Think & Drive' road safety campaign geared towards the prevention of road accidents.

Every year in Ghana, a significant number of people are killed by accidents involving vehicles with many injured.

Provisional statistics from the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) and the Ghana Police MTTD indicate that over 2,924 people were killed in road traffic accidents in 2021.

Recent developments have equally been portraying a worrying trend of frequent accidents claiming many lives and according to the NRSA, between January and August this year, over 1,600 people have died.

It is on the back of these worrisome numbers that Vivo Energy Ghana, the exclusive marketer, and distributor of Shell-branded fuels and lubricants has decided to partner with the National Road Safety Authority again this year to campaign for road safety.

The 2022 edition of the ‘Stop, Think & Drive road safety campaign’ will be carried out with support from relevant stakeholder institutions including the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), the Police MTTD, and the various Transport Unions.

At the launch of the campaign on Thursday, Mr. Kader Maiga, the Managing Director of Vivo Energy Ghana stressed that his outfit is committed to supporting the government and its agencies to curb road accident menace on our roads through the STOP, THINK & DRIVE annual Road Safety Programme.

Mr. Kader Maiga

He explained that this year’s campaign is expected to reach over 1,000 high-risk commercial drivers and motorcyclists across the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Bono East, Northern, Central, and Western Regions of Ghana with refresher training in defensive driving and free eye screening services for drivers.

Following the training, drivers will be monitored and evaluated to assess the impact made over a period with the help of station masters and driver unions.

“I urge all drivers and motorcyclists to make the most out of these refresher training to better equip them in discharging their daily activities and contribute towards making our roads safer.

“Improving safety on our roads is a collective responsibility, let’s get involved,” Mr. Kader Maiga said in his concluding remarks.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Kwame Koduah Atuahene, the Head of Regulation, Inspection, and Compliance at NRSA was full of praise for Vivo Energy Ghana and applauded the company for consistently supporting the National Road Safety Authority.

“We have to commend Vivo Energy for being a good corporate citizen. They also give back to road safety and that is very commendable,” Mr. Kwame Koduah Atuahene shared.

He further called on the various transport unions and commercial drivers to embrace the Stop, Think & Drive road safety to make Ghanaian roads safer for all.

“You [commercial drivers] have the responsibility of passengers and you need to make their safety your priority. We want drivers to help us reduce road accidents in the country,” Mr. Kwame Koduah Atuahene appealed.

On her part, Madam Catherine Hamilton, the NRSA Greater Accra Regional Director urged commercial drivers to patronize products of Vivo Energy Ghana to sustain their investment in training for commercial drivers, a venture she intimated that is the sure way of promoting responsible driving to curb accidents.

“Vivo energy has been helping us a lot. They have always been helping us to train our drivers and we cannot thank them enough. We are starting this year’s training in Accra. Drivers will be given a certificate after the training in addition to free eye screening.

“Shell is a very good product so I will urge you the drivers to purchase from Shell so that they will continue helping us,” Madam Catherine Hamilton shared.

Thursday’s launch of the Stop, Think & Drive road safety campaign at the Neoplan Station at Circle was attended by officials of Vivo Energy Ghana, distinguished Transporters; S.O Frimpong, J.K. Horgle & J. K. Ahiadome, as well as representatives of MTTD, DVLA, GPRTU, and the leadership of the Neoplan Bus Terminal.