Media practitioners and civil society organisations have been challenged to champion the campaign to save lives on the roads.
The Northern Regional Director of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Mr Mohammed Abdul-Samed, who threw the challenge stressed that fatalities on the roads would be reduced drastically if the media led the campaign.
“If the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders join in the campaign against the menace of road traffic crashes, the casualties in the country will reduce.”
The regional director said it was about time all media houses in the country devote much space and airtime for dissemination of information on safety and traffic regulations.
Mr Abdul-Samad said these at the Northern Regional launch of the “Stay Alive Campaign” in Tamale on Tuesday.
He emphasised that preventing road accidents remained a shared and collective responsibility, hence the need for all stakeholders to support in the fight.
The regional director noted that the authority had intensified road safety education in the region, and advised commercial drivers and all road users to comply with road traffic regulations.
Mr Abdul-Samad stated that the “Stay Alive” campaign which was launched early this year by the NRSA and the Ministry of Transport was aimed at reducing road crashes ahead of the Christmas festivities.
He lamented that the fatalities on the roads were alarming and that NRSA would initiate all measures to reduce it.
The regional director said the “Stay Alive Campaign” was one of the initiatives to mitigate the occurrence of road crashes in the country.
He said the authority had singled out indiscipline as a contributing factor to crashes on our roads, hence the need to change attitudes to solve the issue, and not blame the devil.
“It is a campaign, that calls on individuals, especially motorists to be more cautious, more involved, and more responsible rather than attributing road accidents to the work of the devil,” he stated.
He entreated pedestrians to always pay attention on the road, and look out for safe crossing facilities like pedestrian crossing points or footbridges when crossing the road.
Northern Regional Police Commander, Commissioner of Police Timothy Yoosa Bonga, who did the launch mentioned human factor as a major cause of most accidents on our roads.
He, therefore, commended NRSA for such a programme and urged motorists to be law-abiding on road safety regulations.
“The human factor is a source of our road crashes. Most drivers and riders fail to observe the various laws with regard to the use of the road,” the commander said.
He also said the police would continue to do their work as stipulated in the constitution to protect both human lives and properties.
The Northern Regional Director of the National Ambulance Service, Mr Mumuni Abdul- Rahman, admonished all to take the issue of road safety seriously since anybody could be a victim of road accident.
FROM YAKUBU ABDUL-MAJEED, TAMALE
