POLICE ATTEND WORKSHOP ON ROAD SAFETY (PAGE 29)

OVER fifty personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service have attended a day’s workshop in Takoradi to be more know of motor traffic rules and regulations in order to help reduce the spate of road accidents.
The personnel who were selected from Sekondi, Takoradi and Kwesimintsim police stations were taken through the Road Traffic Act 2004, (Act 683), speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and load height.
Speaking at the workshop, the Western Regional Manager of the National Road Safety Commission, Mr Thomas Bismark Boakye, said a survey conducted by the commission indicated that 1,225 big trucks entered Takoradi during the night, as against 800 which entered the city during the day.
This, he explained, meant that more trucks moved in the night to reduce tear and wear.
Mr Boakye said pedestrian knock downs or crashes in Takoradi was about 42 per cent, while 45 people died in the Western Region within the first two months of this year.
He announced that the MTTU would soon begin arresting floating drivers in Takoradi, since they were impatient, inconsiderate and very reckless.
Mr Boakye said the commission and the MTTU, in collaboration with the Ghana Private Road Transport Union and other transport unions would organise random road checks and periodic night operations to arrest vehicles which would load beyond the stipulated heights, particularly cola nut haulage articulated trucks.
He said they would meet at the end of every quarter of the year to take stock of their operations.
Mr Boakye said the approved maximum loading height for vehicles was 4.0 meters from the ground.
According to him there were only five sections on the Takoradi-Cape Coast road where vehicles could overtake other vehicles but the drivers did that at any point in time.
He said the Road Traffic Act had given the MTTU the necessary backing and powers for the strict and effective enforcement of the road traffic rules and regulations.
Mr Boakye, therefore, urged the MTTU personnel to be firm and not to be lax in the enforcement of the rules and regulations.
The Western Regional Commander of the MTTU, Mr Victor Adusa-Poku, said the workshop had come at a time when road accidents were on the ascendancy.
“As traffic police personnel this has become a problem which has placed a huge challenge on us,” he said.
According to the regional commander, the general perception was that the MTTU was not doing enough to curb the rate of accidents on our roads.
Mr Adusa-Poku said much of the work of the MTTU had become a challenge, since people thought that they were on the road to collect money.
“We must re-examine ourselves as traffic police and live above reproach”.
He urged the police to arrest offending drivers since the more they arrested them the more they became alert.
“Let us be more concerned about what is happening on the roads”.
He noted that the use of mobile phones, while driving was a contributory factor to the spate of accidents on the roads, even though there were no laws on the use of the phones wile driving.