Police Commander calls for review of road safety regulations

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Frank Adu-Poku, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, has called for a review of the road traffic regulations.

He said this would help in a way to curb road accidents because despite the many meetings held with drivers and other stakeholders to stem road accidents, the carnage on the roads is still on the rise.

Mr Adu-Poku was addressing a quarterly meeting of the stakeholders in the transport industry organized by the National Road Safety Commission in Kumasi on Wednesday.

Transport officers, companies, unions and directors from the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) attended the meeting aimed at finding solutions to the problems confronting the industry in the region.

Urban Roads, Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) and managers of State Insurance Company (SIC), Metro Mass Transport (MMT), Road Safety Committee, police officers and the media also attended.

The Regional Police commander said the transport sector plays a crucial role in the socio-economic development of the country and that there was the need to enact pragmatic laws to control the key actors involved.

He expressed concern about the proliferation of transport unions in the metropolis and stressed that the problem could be resolved at the union's level to bring sanity into the industry.

Mr Kwaku Oware-Boateng, Ashanti Regional Co-ordinator of the National Road Safety Commission, said the region recorded 540 accident cases for the first quarter of this year as against 606 in 2005.

He said there were 80 fatal cases and 91 deaths in accidents recorded the first quarter of 2006 as against 56 fatal and 69 deaths in 2005.

Mr Oware-Boateng said the Commission intended to establish road safety committees in all the districts in the region starting from Mampong, Agona and Mamponteng this year.

Deputy Superintendent of Police James Sarfo-Peprah, the Regional Motor Transport and Traffic (MTTU) Commander, said 108 million cedis were collected as court fines from 34 drivers during special MTTU operations from March to May.

He suggested jail terms for drivers convicted by the courts for them to feel the pinch for a change because many a time when fines are imposed on them, the car owners come to pay and they do not feel it.