Cabinet considering a vehicle towing fund

Cabinet is considering a proposal from the Road Safety Commission (RSC) for the creation of a fund that would be fed by vehicle owners to be used for towing accident and broken down vehicles from the roads.

This was disclosed by the Acting Eastern Regional Manager of the National Road Safety Commission, Mr Kwame Koduah Atuahene, at a press conference in Koforidua on Wednesday.

He said the fund would be used to acquire the requisite equipment to tow all types of vehicles on the road to help reduce motor traffic accidents.

Mr Atuahene said broken down vehicles on the road accounted for 20 per cent of all accident cases in the country.

He said as part of activities to mark the United Nation’s declaration of the Decade of Action for Road Safety last year, Ghana launched the National Road Safety Strategy 111(NRSS 111).

Mr Atuahene said under the strategy, the Eastern Region’s goal for the decade was to save 1,400 lives and prevent 14,000 injuries by the year 2020.

He said the regional objective was to achieve 30 per cent compliance with approved speed limits for every 100 cars sampled in high risk areas.

According to Mr Atuahene, under an action plan adopted by the region, passengers would be empowered to speak out on all forms of reckless driving and excessive speeding and measures would be put in place to ensure that drivers comply with posted speed limits.

He said interventions would be developed on the roads to minimize speeding and measures would be put in place to ensure that vehicles on the roads are safer for transportation of people.

Mr Atuahene said under the strategy, Municipal and District assemblies in the region would be involved in the implementation of the regional action plan to ensure that local assemblies also take some responsibilities in ensuring road safety.

Source: GNA