Don’t disrupt attention of drivers in vehicles

Dr Godfred Akyea-Darkwah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Road Safety and TransportationConsultancy, trainers of commercial and organisational drivers, has advised the public to desist from destructing drivers in vehicles to prevent road crashes.

He said passengers often destructed drivers through over-engaging them in conversations, noise from their electronic devices, and loud conversations in the vehicle.

This could cause crashes that could be fatal and knock downs.

Dr Darkwah gave the advice at a programme organised by Vodafone Ghana in partnership with the National Road Safety Authority at commercial bus terminals in Accra like the “VIPStation” to announce its campaign dubbed: “100 Percent Home Safe”.

The campaign was to encourage commercial and private car drivers to adopt Vodafone's strategies developed to achieve an injury free and zero crash and fatality incidence among its staff, contractors, suppliers and vendors for years. ​

The CEO said lack of knowledge and inadequate knowledge caused road accidents, mostly on weekends, at night, and before and during festive seasons.

About 60 to 67 per cent of road crashes were as a result of speeding, high speeding or excessive speeding and 23 per cent were due to wrongful overtaking, Mr Akyea-Darkwah said.

He explained that 90 per cent of decisions taken on the road were as a result of what was seen and observed and a wrong notice and analysis could make one make a wrong decision on the road.

“Don't drive when you have eye defects because that can be dangerous for you and other road users,” he cautioned,

He said it took a speeding vehicle four more distance to stop when a break was applied which could make it somersault, veer off the road, hit a pedestrian, or another vehicle.

He, therefore, advised drivers to stop speeding, wrongful parking of faulty or unfaulty vehicles by road sides and make sure they had triangles in their cars for usage when necessary.

“Unnecessary overloading also causes accidents because it makes a vehicle lose its balance, so let's desist from such acts,” he added.

He commended Vodafone Ghana for possessing an excellent road safety record, adding: “Vodafone takes all staff who drive official or personal cars as well as those who are yet to drive to safety training before allowing them to drive or working with them and that is greatly commendable.”

Ms Hannah Ashiokai Akrong, the Human Resource Director, Vodafone Ghana, said 2,924 lives were lost through road crashes in 2021 to driving and texting, drunk driving, and driver fatigue according to the NRSA.

In addition to the safety campaign, she said Vodafone would reward the driver with the best safety record put together by the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU).

Mr Abdulai Issah Bako, a representative from GPRTU, addressing drivers on the importance of seatbelts, said seatbelt was one of the ways to control road crashes and deaths.

“For passengers on board in planes to land safely is the reason for fixing seat belts in airplanes and similar reason is the reason for fixing them in vehicles. So please let's make good use of it for our own safety,” he said.

Failure to wear seatbelt, he said, made it possible for motorists to “fly” about when vehicles somersault in accidents.

GNA