DRIVE CAREFULLY AS CHRISTMAS APPROACHES (NSEMPA, PAGE 10)

By George Ernest Asare,
Mampong.

THE MAMPONG Divisional Mottor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) Police Commander, ASP B.K. Gyasi, has urged motorists plying the Mampong trunk road to be circumspect as Christmas approaches to reduce the spate of accidents at Mampong and its environs.
He pointed out that in recent times, road traffic accidents have become one of the causes of death at the area, explaining that, road traffic accidents do not only occur every day, but also claimed the lives of people who were contributing significantly to sustainable national development.
Addressing a section of drivers at a seminar organised to educate drivers on road safety, Mr Gyasi said drivers had a great responsibility of ensuring the safety of their passengers by strictly adhering to road traffic regulations.
Looking at the causes of accidents at the Mampong environs, Mr Gyasi noted that, "The unruly behaviour of drivers, their mental disposition and world view of the road user, induces him to be involved in an accident.” He stressed that, excessive speeding, wrong overtaking, and low level of education of some motorists, which makes it difficult for them to appreciate road signs, were some of the contributory factors.
He said poorly constructed roads were also contributory factors to the spate of accidents in the area.
On wrong overtaking, he mentioned that many drivers failed to calculate the speed of vehicles they intended to overtake and only realised too late that they had not only taken a wrong decision, but had also put the lives of the passengers on board their vehicles at great risk.
He pointed out that some drivers also under estimated the danger they put their passengers through when they continued to drive even when they were very tired.
Mr Gyasi advised drivers to appreciate the value of resting when tired by having sufficient rest every day.
"You should adhere to road traffic regulations by not only avoiding wrong overtaking and overtaking at curves, but you should also not drive continuously for more than four hours without resting adequately," he advised.
He also explained that if motorists were to observe the basic rules and regulations on the road, "head-on collisions borne out of wrong overtaking and their attendant fatalities would be a thing of the past,"
Mr Gyasi called on the National Road Safety Commission to intensify its educational campaigns by sensitising drivers to the road traffic regulations of 1974- LI 952 and 953.
He assured all that, the MTTU would continue to be on the roads not only to check recalcitrant drivers, but would also arrest and prosecute those who put the lives of other road users at great risk.