Many things are responsible for the unsafe state of roads in Accra. The recent Adenta footbridge debacle has triggered a critical parley about these challenges and we seek to join.
It is surprising that until now, little has been said about these although motorists grumble when they suffer the constant fallouts from the shortcomings. Among these are the faded Zebras, oops, Zebra Crossings on Accra roads.
Zebra crossings are very important for the maintenance of safety on our roads. For motorists who understand the meanings of these safety checks on our roads, a lot of them ignore their importance and cruise rather than stop for pedestrians especially school children to cross in safety.
Such paintings are required to make them prominent enough for both pedestrians and motorists to do as expected of them. The latter, however, do not respect these significant markings on our city roads and so it is common to observe daring pedestrians running for their lives when motorists refuse to respect the zebras and drive on as if they are deliberately charging on them for their ‘foolhardiness.’
Pedestrians who use zebra crossings, if they are painted, do so at their peril because illiterate commercial drivers and okada riders have no respect for such protocols.
Be it as it may, there should be a consistent frequency for painting our zebra crossings – the dotted lines and the long ones in our city roads.
These done, we demand that the law enforcement agencies compel motorists to respect the zebra crossings and those not doing so dealt with according to the law.
Talking about footbridges and ignoring the foregone and the pedestrian portions of our roads is, in our estimation, hypocritical. Some of these walkways also intended to protect the lives of pedestrians are used recklessly by commercial motorcyclists or okadas.
Others are in such bad state that pedestrians are not encouraged to use them especially as hawkers have also usurped them for their needs.
We had earlier complained about our non-functioning streetlights. We are yet to witness any activity towards reversing the unacceptable situation so our roads at night can be safe.
The responsibilities for the foregone lie on the shoulders of an assortment of public servants from the Ghana Highway Authority, Department Of Urban Roads and others.
The shortcomings are becoming overwhelming and claiming lives. Public servants should do more than they are doing.
Some repairs or restorations do not have to be ordered by ministers before they are done. This is why we find our faded zebra crossings, dotted and long lines, not forgetting dark streets, unacceptable; the blame for which lies upon some slumbering public servants.
The action, as being exerted on the footbridges, should be extended to the faulty streetlights, faded zebra crossings and hawker-seized pedestrian walkways. This way, safety would return to our roads.