It’s time to dualize major highways in Ghana - Road Safety Authority
16th January 2020
File photo
Officials of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) have visited the Dompoase accident scene and expressed concern about the huge loss of lives.
The visit followed a shocking accident that occurred at Dompoase near Komenda Junction in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem Municipality.
The accident on Tuesday dawn claimed 34 lives including; three children and injured several others.
It involved two 60-seater passenger buses travelling from the opposite direction on the Accra- Takoradi highway.
The Authority has, therefore, reiterated calls for the Country to dualize and open up its roads especially on major highways to significantly eliminate head-on coalitions, which had become a common feature on the country’s highways, claiming and maiming many lives.
“The frequent head-on coalitions should be a wake-up call for the Country to consider innovative ways of tackling the problem once and for all”, David Osafo Adonteng, Director of Planning and Programmes at the NRSA, indicated.
He led a delegation from the NRSA and the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department to the accident scene to assess the situation on the ground for first-hand information and also visited some of the survivors receiving treatment at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital to wish them a speedy recovery.
The Dompoase accident, he said should influence policy direction to strengthen the advocacy for the dualization of the Country’s highways as well as heighten road safety education for drivers.
Mr Adonteng noted that dualisation and by-passing of the Nsawam and Nkawkaw roads had significantly eliminated head-on coalition on that stretch adding that it was time for the nation to redesign and also revamp its road infrastructure, particularly on the highways.
He said the NRSA would continue to play its advocacy role to foster behavioural change in drivers, while encouraging them to be disciplined in their operations to eliminate avoidable human errors.
“If we don’t change our behaviour and the way we operate our vehicles on the road, the carnage will not stop” he warned.
He said the NRSA would organise series of classroom training to be spiced with road safety education for commercial vehicle drivers in particular and advised drivers and transport operators to ply their trade within the law, with the Police to support the education.
Mr. victor Bilson, Acting Regional Manager of the NRSA said preliminary investigations showed that the accident occurred as a result of poor visibility due to the absence of street lights and urged the authorities to fix some on the major high ways.