In Pictures
Major Trading Currencies
World Market Watch
Crude Oil
Management Tips
I’m not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.
- General News
- ICT
- Tourism
- Insurance
- Investment
- Oil And Gas
- Politics
- Sports
- Feature Articles
- Editorials/Opinion
- Entertainment
- Africa/International
You Are Here: Home » General News » Road accidents cost Ghana $165m annually
The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) has said road accidents, apart from claiming human lives and leaving others injured, cost the nation US$165 million, representing 1.6 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), every year.
It said the cost ranged from medical cost, property damaged, human cost, administrative cost and lost output.
The Director of Planning and Programmes of the NRSC, Mrs May Obiri- Yeboah, made this known in a presentation on, “Road safety situation in Ghana and the role of driving schools”, at a meeting with members of staff of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) in Accra.
She said road accidents, apart from the lives lost and the economic impact, put pressure on public health, prevented direct foreign investments and tourism and dented the nation’s image.
She said they also brought unbearable grief and pain to families of victims and increased the number of widows, widowers and orphans in the country.
Mrs Obiri-Yeboah said drivers contributed to 93 per cent of road accidents and attributed majority of those accidents to drivers who had not attended any driving school.
She noted that over 85 per cent of drivers had not attended any driving school and added that 82.2 per cent of those drivers had taught others to drive.
“The danger is that bad practices are transferred automatically to the learners,” she said.
She called on commercial vehicle owners to request certificates from recognised driving institutions prior to employing drivers to minimise road accidents.
According to Mrs Obiri-Yeboah, road traffic accidents were ranked ninth among the things that claimed human lives and added that “if serious measures are not taken, it can move up to third by 2020″.
She said over 40 per cent of road accident victims were pedestrians and added that the NRSC would channel its programmes at protecting pedestrians.
She said the commission would introduce an upgrading programme for drivers and train 500 commercial drivers annually on professionalism, discipline on the road and further increase their driving knowledge and skills.
Drivers, according to Mrs Obiri-Yeboah, would also be trained in leadership skills, training and development of subordinates, customer care, interpersonal skills, time management, first aid and road safety.
The Director of Driver Testing and Licensing at the DVLA, Mr C. W. Musa, in an address, said there was a serious administrative lapse in driver training and called on owners of driving schools to spend money on employing and improving the skills of teaching personnel for effective driver training.
He also called on owners of driving schools to improve their methods of teaching by using effective and concise teaching manuals that would clearly link theory with practice.
Source: Daily Graphic
| 
| Tweet This! |
Our corporate focus is quality and safe drivers. Virage Simulation design, manufacture and market car and truck simulators comprising state-of-the-art driver training programs. We look forward to discussing possibilities with interested parties regarding our driver training solutions.
i think drivers are the main problem of road accident in Ghana.Driver should be checked weather they are not drunk before driving and also the vehicle must be check serious because some of these vehicles we passenger we do sit in very appoling.some of the maintenance of some vehicles which travel for long journey should be check very well.thank you for your consen
i think that, as mush as drivers should be blamed for their carelessness and indiscipline on the road, the DVLA can also do more in reducing road accidents by ensuring that drivers go through proper examination before licenses are issued to them. also the police should learn to be truthful to themselves and mother ghana as they discharge their duties on the road.