Consider every road user as a “mad” person – NRSA 

The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has urged road users to consider every other person on the road as a “mad person” and be extra-cautious to protect themselves against accidents.

It said that mindset informed a person to observe defensive use of the road, which was crucial in avoiding preventable road crashes and saving precious lives.

Mr Mohammed Abdul-Samad, the Upper West Regional Head of the NRSA, who said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa, observed that carelessness of some road users caused accidents.

“Don’t trust anybody driving or riding ahead of you, the person can indicate the traffic indicator towards the right but curve at the left.

Just see that every person on the road is mad, you are the only sensible person on the road, so when the mad person does anything on the road you can prevent an accident, that is defensive driving or riding,” Mr Abdul-Samad explained.

He entreated motorists to respect pedestrians, especially the aged, persons with disabilities and children, by stopping for them to cross the road whether at a designated zebra crossing or not to avoid needless accidents.

Mr Abdul-Samad also urged motorists to observe road traffic regulations such as speed limits, rightful overtaking, using traffic indicators and being generally vigilant to help avoid preventable accidents.

He urged teachers to serve as role models to the school children by wearing crash helmets when riding or wearing seatbelts while driving for the children to learn from them.

He cautioned pedestrians to always obey road traffic regulations because they were also liable for prosecution if their carelessness caused accidents.

“In road traffic law, we call something jaywalking, which is walking carelessly on the road, you can cause an accident.

“It is punishable by law though; we have never heard that someone has been prosecuted for jaywalking.

Someone can get drunk, misbehave on the road and if a motorist knocks the person down, they tend to blame the driver or rider”, Mr Abdul-Samad explained.

Available statistics from the Upper West Regional office of the NRSA indicate that a total of 143 cases of road accidents were recorded in the region from January to September 2023 compared to 95 cases recorded within the same period in 2022.

That involved 219 vehicles within that period in 2023 while 156 vehicles were involved in 2022, with 12 and 16 pedestrian knockdowns in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

This resulted in 45 deaths and 183 injuries within that period in 2023 while 40 deaths and 153 injuries were recorded in 2022 within the same period.

Mr Abdul-Samad attributed the increase in road crashes in 2023 to gross disrespect for road traffic regulations.

He, however, said the situation could have been worse but for the strong collaboration between the NRSA, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority and Motor Traffic and Transport Department in their sensitisation drives.

Mr Abdul-Samad said the Authority and its partners would not relent in their efforts to curb the menace of road crashes by engaging in public education through the media, institutional visits, and public places such as market centres.

GNA