Tap experiences of old drivers to reduce accidents

The Chairman of the Drivers' Welfare Union of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Mr Sumaila Boakye, has appealed to the National Road Safety Commission and the Ministry of Road and Transport to endeavour to tap the knowledge and experience of old drivers in order to develop effective strategies to curb road accidents in the country.

He said drivers of the older generation had enough to share and there was the need for a deliberate effort by road safety authorities to tap their knowledge and experiences to help reduce the increasing spate of road accidents in the country.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi on Wednesday, on the recent spate of road accidents in some parts of the country, resulting in several deaths, Mr Boakye identified fatigue and sleepiness as some of the major contributory factors to frequent road accidents.

He said most drivers were under pressure to meet their daily accounts and that they travel several kilometres without proper sleep and rest.

Mr Boakye said most of the current generation of drivers also lacked basic driving techniques while others were also driving vehicles which they were not qualified to drive.

“The National Road Safety Commission and the Ministry should sit down with some of us to share experience and strategies that could help reduce accidents on the roads”, he stressed.

He said if immediate steps were not taken, fatal accidents would continue to occur this year as a result of the new trend of driving, which was now being experienced on the roads.

Mr Boakye stressed the need for transport associations to provide resting places for their members to enable them to have enough rest before continuing their journeys.

He also called for a system that would help check the time spent by a driver on a particular journey.