The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) is calling on the government to organize a forum to conscientize both commercial and private driver’s in the country to help reduce the spate of road fatalities in the country.
GPRTU bemoaned the state of indiscipline on the country’s roads saying inadequate road markings on major roads contribute significantly to road fatalities in the region.
The Eastern Regional Treasurer of GPRTU, Mr. Paul Kanatey spoke to Citi News on the sidelines of phase 2 of the Arrive Alive Road Safety Operation by DVLA, MTTD, National Road Safety Authority aimed at reducing road accidents before, during, and after the Easter festivities.
“It’s unfortunate that these mistakes keep on happening day in and day out. Driving has become like a business where most people who couldn’t make it through school will like to use it to make ends meet and because of that, they get themselves engaged in driving illegalities. A lot of these drivers also operate without a license mainly because of the high rate of licensing fees and how there the lack of a strict policy before handing out licenses. A lot of cars also do a lot of overloading.”
He also urged the leaders to invest in road markings so that drivers will have a good bearing, especially while driving at night.
“Driving on asphalt when rain falls is very difficult because the roads get slippery so when there are no road markings, it is difficult to get your bearing especially when other vehicles throw lights on you. So road markings are very important to me since I am always behind a steering wheel and not in an office working, so I am speaking from experience.”
He also called on vehicle owners to ease the pressure given to drivers to double sales to stop speeding by commercial drivers.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor, Transport, and Traffic Department, Chief Superintendent Stephen Kofi Ahiatafu who described the road check operations as successful said the taskforce will soon embark on swift enforcement to clamp down on careless and irresponsible driver’s.
Source:citinewsroom