Transport Ministry pushes amendment of traffic regulations to control crashes    

The Ministry of Transport is pushing for installation of speed limiters into all commercial buses to check speeding and control road crashes on the country’s highways.

Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, the Sector Minister said his Ministry is collaborating with the Ministry of Roads and Transport for urgent review and amendment of the Road Traffic Regulation, which would also consider fixing of secret cameras on accident prone-highways.

He told journalists during a visit to the Techiman-Kintampo highway accident scene that, amendment of the LI 2180, 2012 was necessary to make it enforcement realistic and punitive enough to bring sanity on the road.

Mr Asiamah was accompanied Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mrs May Obiri-Yeboah, Executive Director of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) and some key staff of the two Ministries to get first-hand information and assess the impact of the accident, which claimed more than 60 lives.

The gory crash at Amoma-Nkwanta near Jema involved in a head-on collision of two commercial buses, a KIA Grandbird with registration number GT 5694-18 from Garu in the Upper East Region to Kumasi and a KIA VVIP bus with registration number GT 3916-17 from Accra to Bolgatanga.

Mr Asiamah noted that it was established that more than 80 percent of all road crashes recording in the country was as a result of driver indiscipline and negligence with overspending recording the highest contributory factor.

But, he expressed the worry that the Road Traffic Regulation was not punitive enough to deter drivers whose carelessness was leading to the untimely deaths of unsuspecting and innocent people.

Mr Amoako-Atta noted that the Techiman-Kintampo highway remained one of the standard roads in the country, and he said he did not understand why crashes and fatalities should recur when required road signs and directions were fixed on that particular stretch.

He said the government was doing all things possible to control crashes on the road, but noted that such efforts would be meaningless if drivers remained indiscipline and failed to observe road signs.

Mr Amoako-Atta said the government had realized GH¢6.5 million to the NRSC to collaborate with other road agencies to intensify road safety advocacy, and commended the NRSC for their efforts.

He added, however, that more commitment and hard work was required from the Commission until road crashes were brought into the barest minimum.

The two sector Ministers and their entourage later visited the Techiman Holy Family Hospital where three of the accident victims were on admission.

They also visited the Muslim Cemetery of Jama in the Kintampo South District where about the 39 victims of the accident who were burnt beyond recognition were given mass burial to observe a minute silent for the departed souls.

Source: GNA

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