Need to ensure accident free Christmas

NEWS COMMENTARY ON THE NEED TO ENSURE ACCIDENT FREE CHRISTMAS.

In three days, the whole world will be celebrating the birth of Christ. A lot of people are doing last minute shopping and this is creating vehicular and human traffic in major cities and towns. During this period, commercial drivers are in haste to take advantage of the season to make more money. The story is not different this year, motorists especially commercial drivers are flouting road regulations just to make more money. This is unfortunate because they do that at the expense of human life without considering the cost to the nation.

The country has witnessed some gory accidents recently claiming several lives but these have not been able to scare drivers to be careful. Stakeholders in the roads and transport sector have embarked on programmes to educate drivers and other road users to ensure accident free Christmas and beyond. Some driver unions are also educating their members to observe road safety regulations to ensure that the yuletide is devoid of accidents. The Police on the other hand have launched a programme dubbed “Operation Father Christmas” to ensure safety and protect lives and property. They are visible during peak hours to control traffic to avoid the chaos that is witnessed at this time of the year.

Although all stakeholders are doing their best to ensure accident free Christmas, there are some challenges on the Achimota-Ofankor-Amasaman stretch which have been brought to the attention of the stakeholders in the road sector but no action has been taken. Lights have been replaced on some streets and communities but the Achimota-Ofankor-Amasaman stretch has been left out. It is sad because lots of calls have gone to the powers that be to fix the lights and these have fallen on deaf ears, though it is one of the important roads that connect the South to the North. It is estimated that more than six million vehicles use that stretch every day.

Another challenge on that stretch is the faded road markings. Again, this has been brought to the attention of the authorities but nothing has been done about it. It is very dangerous using that stretch in the night especially with the onset of the Hamattan where one’s vision becomes blur. At this point, drivers rely on the road markings to avoid accident. However this has been left to fade off.

The last but not the least is the damaged railings some of which are sticking out on to the roads posing danger to motorists. One cannot tell why several calls to the authorities for the damaged rails to be repaired but nothing has been done. These are the challenges on that stretch which if not rectified can cause accidents to mar the Christmas.

It is my hope that the authorities in the road sector will move quickly to solve the challenges to avoid a situation where human lives will be lost before the problems are fixed.

Merry Christmas to all Ghanaians.

By Ernest Obeng- Anim, a Journalist.