Accra, Dec. 20, GNA- The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has urged its stakeholders to work in partnership to reduce the carnage on the roads.
Engineer May Obiri-Yeboah, the Director-General, said this when the Authority met transport operators across the country, in Accra, to sensitise them on the National Road Safety Authority Act, 2019 (Act 993), and seek their cooperation to ensure road safety.
They included the Ghana Private Road Transport Union, the State Transport Company and Tiger Transport Service Association.
Ing. Obiri-Yeboah said the engagement was significant for the Authority to bring the stakeholders on the same page to work in tandem in the national interest.
“We do not think that our mandate is given to us to harass anybody,” adding that, it was a collective commitment to ensure that there was safety on the roads.
The Act, which transformed the body from a Commission into an Authority,
mandates it to play the lead role in championing, promoting and coordinating road safety activities in the country.
Thus it is empowered as a regulator to coordinate activities of stakeholders such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and the Motor Transport and Traffic Department of the Ghana Police Service, to keep the roads safer.
It is also to investigate transport systems for safety compliance and make the requisite recommendations to the Ministry of Transport.
Additionally, it is to ensure that the DVLA complies with the set standards and apply sanctions, when necessary.
Mr Daniel Wuaku, Deputy Director of Planning and Programme at the NRSA, said road safety was a shared responsibility among all stakeholders, including pedestrians, motor riders, drivers, hence the need for all to be vigilant on the roads.
He said the behaviour of some pedestrians, such as overly concentrating on phones and wearing earphones, endangered their lives, therefore, they should, desist from such acts.
The high level of fatalities involving motor riders, he said, was very worrying and the Authority was in the process of finding a lasting solution to the problem.
According to the Authority, 1,915 fatalities were recorded between January and October this year as compared to 1,921 recorded for the same period last year.
Pedestrian knockdowns also reduced by 7.07 per cent from 2,626 to 2,418 for the same period.
Mr Emmanuel Pink Dankwa, the General Secretary of Tiger Transport Service Association, proposed the establishment of a Ghana Driving College or Institution, where drivers, especially of heavy duty vehicles, could receive training to make them competent.
The National Road Safety Commission was established by the National Road Safety Commission Act, 1999 (Act 567), to develop and promote road safety in the country.
