We have still not been able to eliminate the negative tag of a country with one of the highest highway fatalities in the West African sub-region.
To think that most of these accidents are head-on collision induced, add to the queries of policymakers and law enforcement managers.
The Kintampo stretch to the Northern Regional capital of Tamale is not one of the safe roads in the country. Having claimed so many lives since the road replaced the Atebubu, Yeji to Salaga and Tamale stretch in terms of traffic volumes, the road continues to snuff lives out of both breadwinners and children.
Of course the accidents which have occurred on this road could have been avoidable were an enforcement regime been active. Unfortunately, an assortment of factors has militated against a successful enforcement of the regulations that could obviate the needless bloodshed.
The thought of the news about the perishing of a breadwinner being broken to the family after they leave home for a trip to the South or vice versa is heartbreaking and emotionally painful.
This is the umpteenth time we are commenting about the many deaths that have occurred on our highways in the past years.
Unfortunately, when these painful episodes occur, nothing significant is done to obviate a future recurrence.
We share the pain of the families of the nineteen persons who perished at Mile 40, Sarekyekura near Fufulso on the Buipe to Tamale road in the Savannah Region, the subject of this commentary.
Appropriate policies when they are drawn and implemented can indeed reverse this bloodbath on our highways.
There is something about this stretch of our national road network which makes it a blood guzzler.
A trip from Bolga or Bawku to Accra or even Kumasi is not a picnic affair. Fatigued drivers try to fight nature by subduing the urge to take a short snap before continuing on the grueling driving activity. With no mechanism in place to regulate the number of hours a driver must be behind the steering wheel, they do as they please and endanger the lives of poor passengers.
This fact is verifiable from the time most of these accidents take place. Wednesday’s accident occurred a little after midnight, suggesting that both drivers could have been fatigued after driving over a long distance and heading for opposite directions.
We could not agree more with the Assistant Chief Fire Officer Kwasi Baffour-Awuah, the Savannah Region Fire Commander who noted that there has been an increase in road traffic accidents on the Kintampo-Tamale highway. The Mpaha Junction accident on the same highway claimed six lives on January 21, 2021. Similarly, 50 lives were lost on the Kintampo to Buipe stretch, an accident which saw one of the vehicles go up in flames.
When adequately equipped, the police can determine how long a driver has been behind the wheels and whether or not it is time for him to take a short break.
The details of a departing vehicle can be wired to the next police checkpoint so that drivers do not continue to subdue sleep to the detriment of passengers. Such a regulatory regime demands both efficient communication gadgets and cops with integrity, otherwise little would be achieved.
The deaths on our highways must stop and now. Enough of the accidents!