Mobile Phones, Source of Most Road Accidents

The Minister of State for Transportation, Hon. Godfrey Bayon Tangu (MP) has encouraged all drivers to obtain further education to enhance their driving skills and reduce road accidents and fatalities.

Hon. Bayon Tangu was speaking at the official launch of the Course Certificate for Drivers at the International Press Centre in Accra recently.

The Minister said, "The introduction of the new Certificate of Competence by the National Association of Driving Schools will definitely set up high standards of driver education". "Road Safety is everybody's responsibility, but drivers if trained properly can contribute more positively to the reduction of road traffic accidents and other related consequences", he stated.

The Government is hopeful that the introduction of the Certificate would help reduce the road traffic fatality rate of 22 deaths per 1000 vehicles in 2006 to a single digit by 2015.

Ghana's road fatalities exceeded 1,800 people in 2006. "The loss of lives on our roads cost the nation about 1.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This translates into a sum of over a whole year's revenue for the Ghana Road Fund which is about US $110 million", he said.

The Minister has reported speeding, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, poor vehicle maintenance, overloading and more recently driving while using a mobile phone as major causes of this large fatality rate.

Improved roads also encouraged dangerous levels of speeding.

Despite these poor statistics, the Minister was encouraged by the determined efforts of Ghanaians to reduce this high rate of accidents.

A new Bill that has been placed before Parliament (Act 683) would also add a legal dimension and enable drivers and pedestrians to be disciplined for road offences.

The Course Certificate has gained support from the International Road Safety Partnership. Mr Michael Winnet, a Senior Advisor with the group, who also spoke at the launch, encouraged all Ghanaians to take Road Safety seriously. "The more training we can give to people the better," he said.

Mr. David Osafo Adonteng, Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at the National Road Safety Commission also said Road Safety was increasingly becoming a concern to Governments all over the world. Over a million people die every year and about ten times that number get seriously injured through road traffic accidents.

"Based on World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, the cost of road traffic accidents to countries range between 1% and 3% of their respective Gross Domestic Products (GDPs), and this poses a big challenge to the economies, particularly those in the developing counties including Ghana", he stated.

He said the improvement of the roads had undoubtedly contributed to the progressive growth in the nation's economy, however, it had also resulted in many road and vehicle related accidents.

He emphasized that the behavioral attitude of drivers should change.

Mr Adonteng then urged the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to use its expertise and resources to build a safe driving culture in Ghana, from nurturing a safe attitude from the learner level, pre-test preparation, post-test support and upgrading training/advice/guidance for all vehicle owners and drivers.

Mr Cecil Garbah addressed the gathering as President of Exposition of Certificate by GhanaDrive. He noted that the introduction of the new certificate would establish high standards of driver education and raise awareness of Road Safety.

Mr. Garbah also appealed for the closure of unregistered driving schools. The President of GhanaDrive concluded by calling for words to be put into action. "The ability to produce something to benefit society is what matters and not talking too much", he said.

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