By Yayra Lawoe
The National Road Safety Authority now has the power to regulate road transport operations in the country. This follows the passage of a Legislative Instrument (LI) by Parliament. The LI will also enable the NRSA to enforce standards, promote sanity and reduce crashes on the roads. This was revealed at a stakeholder consultative meeting in Accra.
Globally, Road traffic crashes remain a human tragedy and serious threat to development. Ghana is also bearing the brunt as Road traffic crashes continue to claim lives and cause life-threatening injuries.
At a consultative meeting in Accra, spearheaded by the National Road Safety Authority, disclosed that between January to March this year, Greater Accra leads the chart in road accidents and deaths, followed closely by the Eastern Region.
Though there has been a steady reduction in road accidents, the NSRA says it is poised to do more with other interest groups to make the roads safer. With the passage of the Legislative Instrument, the Road Safety Authority will fully operationalize its act, and will now control the road space.
The Acting Director-General of the National Road Safety Authority, Mr. David Osafo Adonteng, said effective measures will be in place to check sanity on the roads. The first quarter of 2023 has witnessed a reduction in road Crashes, Injuries and Deaths and the Authority says the “stay alive road safety campaign” is a contributory factor.
Per statistics from the MTTD, the Greater Accra Region had the highest number of recorded crashes of 1,243 among the 16 regions while the Oti Region recorded 15 cases being the least. The Authority says it will intensify the campaign to save lives and keep the road space safe.
