Be More Concerned About The Safety Of Your Children---Parents Advised

Mrs. May Obiri Yeboah, the Executive Director of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), has urged parents to be in charge of their children's safety.

She said parents, who were also causes of road accidents through their negligence needed to be in charge of their actions that landed their children in accidents.

"Parents are a lot of the time, the causes of road accidents, they leave their children to cross dual roads all by themselves which is very dangerous and unacceptable.

"We don't want that happening anymore so I urge stakeholders and parents to ensure that educative and sensitisation efforts are put in place to control this worrying problems," she said.

Mrs Obiri Yeboah said this at this year's Remembrance Day for victims of Road Accidents held in Accra on Sunday.

The yearly programme which is observed globally has the goal of remembering people who have lost their lives as a result of road accidents and people on admissions at the various hospitals because of road accidents.

The programme which started in 2011, was observed this year on theme: "Even One Death is Too Much for Us To Bear, So Let's Change Our Behaviours on the Roads To Stop Road Accidents".

The Executive Director of NRSC also advised drivers to stay within their limits when driving and also avoid drinking when driving in order for them to be sober along their line of duties.

Mr David Osafo Adonteng, the Director of Planning at the NRSC, mentioned that every day six people die as a result of road accidents.

He added that between January and November about 1,600 deaths had been recorded following road accidents although November had not ended.

"1.3 million People die globally as a result of road accidents, with five million people suffering from casualties," he said.

Mr Adonteng therefore called on all especially the churches to collectively help in the education on road safety.

Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, the Executive Officer of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, attributed most of the pedestrian deaths in the city to the Lapaz intersection.

He said: "Out of the 680 fatal pedestrian events in the city of Accra within this period, that is January 2011 to December 2015, 113 occurred there.

"This indicates that 16.6 per cent of all fatal accidents within the city of Accra takes place here on the George Walker Bush High way," he said.

Mr Adjei Sowah noted that it was the goal of the assembly to have zero road crashes at the location as even one death a year was too high for the country.

He pledged the AMA's preparedness in ensuring that December 2017 to January 2018 would be the safest on the streets of Accra adding, "We are working hard to meet the UN global target of a 50 per cent reduction in road crashes by the year 2020."

Dr Owen Kaluwa, the World Health Organization Country Representative for Ghana, said, the best way to honour the memory of those who had suffered on the world's roads would be for government to fulfil the commitments made at the start of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 before it was too late.

There was a remembrance church service by NRSC staff at the Presbyterian Church of Ghana Adom Congregation, Lapaz Fish Pond a suburb of Accra where prayers were said for victims of road accidents.

Reverend Josephine M Ankrah, in a sermon urged Christians to be faithful stewards over God's creation including the ensuring of their neighbours safety on the roads.

She led the church to pray for the staff of NRSC.
NRSC management and staff made a presentation to the church.

GNA
By Elsie Appiah-Osei, GNA