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Konongo-Odumase MTTD Vows To Arrest Long-Distance Drivers Without Spare Parts

General News Konongo-Odumase MTTD Vows To Arrest Long-Distance Drivers Without Spare Parts
MAR 11, 2020 LISTEN

The Konongo-Odumase Division of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police service says it has begun an exercise to impound commercial vehicles that travel long distances without spare drivers.

Data available to Citi News from the Ashanti Regional Road Safety Authority shows that from July 2019 to February 2020 alone, one hundred and nine road crashes were recorded on the Konongo stretch of the Kumasi-Accra highway.

Out of the figure, 39 lives were lost and 290 injuries recorded.

The MTTD Commander for Konongo-Odumase, DSP Stephen Paa Yeboah in a Citi News interview described the situation as worrying.

“What we have realized is that all accidents nowadays are caused by tiredness that's fatigue. The driver will be tired but will still be driving. So I will entreat all car owners and drivers plying Accra to Tamale, Wa, Kibi, Kimtampo, Bolga all of them to be cautious on the road. I beg them to at least get two drivers so that they will be interchanging. That will not cause so much fatal accident and if they don't do that, we will take actions against them because we will not sit down for people to be losing their lives any how through accidents like that. We will try our best so that our dear brothers and sisters will stay alive.”

Recent road crashes

At least 31persons died after two buses collided on the Kintampo-Tamale Highway on the dawn of Monday, March 9, 2020.

The deceased in the crash were burned beyond recognition after the wreckage caught fire.

The Kintampo Divisional Crime Officer, DSP Kwabena Gbagbo, told Citi News that the crash happened around 3 am on Monday, March 9, 2020.

One of the buses involved in the crash was from Bawku and was headed to Techiman when the crash occurred near an area called Dawadawa No 2. It had about 11 passengers on board.

The other vehicle was a Sprinter bus with about 23 passengers.

The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has attributed the crash was as a result of driver error.

Yesterday, March 10, 2020, there was a crash involving a Yutong bus travelling from Kumasi to the Bawku area and a tipper truck at Walewale.

According to the conductor on the Yutong bus, the bus' breaks failed causing it to run into the truck.

The conductor also said the bus had some transmission problems.

“The car was speeding and my master applied the break but it didn't work. We signalled with our lights to other cars as everything seized.”

One of the passengers also said there were signs that the vehicle was not in good condition during the trip.

“The car was not good at all. After a while, he [driver] stops to put water in it,” she recounted.

Despite these occurrences, the driver later said there was no real fault in the vehicle though he said: “the air in the brake lines was finished.”

----citinewsroom

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