The Police administration will deploy more personnel during the Easter season to ensure that drivers and commuters comply with road safety regulations.
The Director-General of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner of Police (COP) Fredrick Adu-Anim, disclosed this to the Ghanaian Times, yesterday.
He said personnel of the MTTD had met with transport operators in Accra,to discuss road safety measures to ensure safety during the Easter.
COP Adu-Anim, therefore, urged drivers to abide by road safety regulations to protect lives and properties during the festivities.
He stressed that there was the need to ensure sanity on the roads to avoid accidents and prevent deaths on the roads in the country.
COP Adu Anim said most accidents were avoidable if driver adhered to basic precautionary measures.
The Director-General of MTTD recalled that during the Easter last year, 54 accidents were recorded throughout the country as against 106 the previous year.
“In the 2020, accidents recorded by Motor Traffic and Transport Department involved 82 vehicles, and eight people were killed, 63 injured, as against 18, killed, 140 injured, involving 174 vehicles the previous year”.
COP Adu-Anim said the MTTD, as part of measures to prevent road crashes during Easter, was also collaborating with relevant stakeholders such as the National Road Safety Authority, Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority, and the Ministry of Transport, to ensure both drivers and commuters were safe.
He urged riders and drivers not to park their vehicles and motor cycles at unauthorised places to participate in church activities and other programmes.
“Drivers must avoid driving under the influence of alcohol, drive when tired and refrain from excessive speeding and wrongful overtaking,” COP Adu-Anim advised.
He assured the public of MTTD’s commitment to ensuring sanity on the roads, and called on the public to assist the police maintain law and order.
COP Adu-Anim appealed to the media to partner with the MTTD in its sensitisation programmes to ensure that lives were protected.
“Road safety is a shared responsibility and all must collaborate with the police to ensure sanity on the roads, to ensure that lives and properties are protected,” he said.
BY ANITA NYARKO-YIRENKYI
