... from 2000 to 2006
Accra, Oct. 20, GNA - Eleven thousand, nine hundred and sixty-two persons were killed, while 33,805 were injured in 70,534 road accidents reported due to reckless driving between the year 2000 and 2006, Mr Daniel O Adonteng, Deputy Director, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of the National Road Safety Commission, said on Friday. He gave these statistics at the celebration of the International Road Transport Action Campaign Week in Accra, on the theme: "Organizing globally, building union power, correcting indiscipline on our roads, eradicating the carnage and addressing the undue delay at our frontiers".
Mr Adonteng expressed concern about the high level of indiscipline among drivers of commercial and private vehicles and called for the creation of a "dedicated police enforcement team" to support the National Road Safety Committee (NRSC) to enforce the laws to minimize fatal road accidents.
He also suggested the establishment of road safety call centres, a "National Driver Academy" and the inclusion of road safety education in the curriculum of basic schools in the country.
Mr Emmanuel Armstrong Mensah, Coordinator of the Federation of Transport Unions, urged the authorities to check undue delays of drivers at the country's borders, which was hampering the movement of road transport organizations and businesses across the frontiers.
Mr Kofi Asamoah, Deputy Secretary General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress urged the transport unions in Ghana to link up effectively with their counterparts in the West Africa Sub-Region to help minimize the carnage on the roads and also help to solve problems that transporters face at the frontiers.