PRESS
RELEASE
The
National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) extends its best wishes and
felicitations to all road users and the motoring public this yuletide.
Road safety has become a major global issue
due to its impact on households, families and economies of countries. Its
impact has social and economic consequences, which if unaddressed, affects the
sustainable development of countries.
Every day, road crashes account for about
3,200 lives globally and about 1.2 million deaths yearly leaving several
million others incapacitated. It is estimated that in developing countries,
road traffic crashes cost roughly 65 billion dollars each year.
Without doubt, road traffic crashes
is a major challenge to national development. The NRSC has as its mandate to halt the current
unacceptable levels of Road Traffic Fatalities and Injuries by 2015, and
thereafter, reduce it by 50% by the end of 2020
We appreciate
the partnership of our Road Safety Icon for the region, DaasebreKwebuEwusi VII,
key stakeholders, Transport Organizations and Unions, the Driver and Vehicle
Licensing Authority, Road Agencies, National Ambulance Service, Ghana Red Cross
Society, Ghana National Fire Service, the media and all who have worked towards
raising the overall profile of road safety in 2013.
We
are entreating you all as road users to beware of the following as they are the
hindrances during such festivities:
We
are entreating you all as road users to beware of the following as they are the
hindrances during such festivities:
1. As passengers, speak up when you realize your driver is
misbehaving by way of speed or overtaking wrongfully/using mobile phone.
2. Ensure that you don’t join a vehicle that is overloaded and
also a vehicle whose driver is either drunk or tired; since a greater number of
people will be traveling to and from the region, most drivers would like to go
and come back fast to transport the people even when they are tired, they will
not rest so beware of them. The Road Traffic Regulation requires them to
take about fifteen to thirty minutes rest after two -fours of driving/or when tiredness
sets in.
3. Should you be embarking on any convention, ensure the
vehicles are not overloaded and as much as possible, don’t travel in the night.
4. As pedestrians, do well to wear brightly colored clothing
when walking in the night, use torch light for it helps. Walk facing on-coming
vehicles and be sure to cross the roads at the designated places.
5. Know that an excess passenger commits an offence, and can be
arrested alongside the driver and be fined or imprisoned.
6. Do not board or alight from a vehicle at an unauthorized
place.
7. A pedestrian who jaywalks or ignores traffic light signal
commits an offence.
8. A passenger should not use offensive, quarrelsome language
or gesture to provoke or insult others.
9. Don’t interfere with the comfort of other passengers, and
also do not enter into conversation with the driver.
The
NRSC is embarking on the following strategies and programmes during this yuletide:
a) Step up outreach and sensitization on Passenger and
Pedestrian safety with our stakeholders.
b) Collaborating with Transport Organizations to raise the
profile of pre-departure checks.
c) Empowering passengers and pedestrians with safety awareness
messages in the media.
d) Visiting the transport terminals to ascertain level of
compliance with road safety standards and guidelines.
Road safety is a shared responsibility.
Road Safety, My Responsibility, Your
Responsibility.
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