Kwaku Ofori Asiamah
Minister of Transport announced in parliament yesterday that the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) is to become an Authority to be able to sanction non-complaint road users.
He called on Members of Parliament (MPs) to be road safety advocates.
According to the minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, cabinet has given approval for the conversion of NRSC into an authority, which would have a new mandate to enforce institutional standards for road safety and also exact obedience and sanction people who breach road safety regulations.
He said the NRSC, in collaboration with Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, would soon install speed cameras to check over-speeding and traffic infractions on the roads.
“These unmanned Traffic Enforcement Devices will automatically detect, record, transmit and store traffic violations,” the minister added.
The minister briefed MPs on measures being taken by his ministry to reduce rampant accidents on the country’s roads after he was summoned before Parliament following the unfortunate knock-downs on the Madina-Adenta Hhighway.
He said safety on the road is a shared responsibility and that much as drivers are supposed to religiously abide by road traffic regulations, pedestrians and other road users must also strictly observe road safety regulations.
“Mr Speaker, I wish to draw the attention of the House to Section 154 of the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012, L.I 2180 that it is an offence for pedestrians to jay walk or ignore a traffic light signal. It’s also an offence for a pedestrian to fail to use a footbridge or underpass where it is provided,” he said.
The minister indicated that NRSC has started establishing 100 Road Surveillance and Incident Response Centres (RoadSIRC) across the various road networks in the country.
He pointed out that the centres would be adequately equipped with the requisite logistics and manned by trained personnel from the Commission, National Ambulance Service, Ghana Red Cross Society, NADMO, Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and Ghana Police Service to carry out 24/7 surveillance on the roads to identify risky behaviours on the road and respond accordingly with the appropriate actions to prevent accident.
He said in case road crash occurs, the centres would offer emergency post-crash services for the victims, adding that the ministry would discuss with cabinet to recruit about 1,000 graduates under the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) to man such centres.
He stated that eight of them have already been established at Asuboi, Bunso, Asankare and Juaso on the Accra-Kumasi highway, Okyereko and Apam Junction on the Accra-Takoradi Highway and Toje, near Ada Junction and Nogokpo on the Tema-Aflao Highway.
The first deputy speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, who presided over the event, asked the MPs to be involved in road safety campaign because of their influence in the society to help reduce road accidents in the country.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr