Accra, Oct. 24, GNA - The risk of one getting involved in a road traffic accident in Ghana may be higher than global estimates, a study conducted on fatigue in traffic accidents in 2006 by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), has revealed. This is due to driver fatigue or tiredness, heat from engines, conditions of the vehicles, nature of the roads and the number of passengers in some buses, the study said. The situation is also compounded by the fact that the income of commercial drivers, who are employed by informal operators, is dependent on their daily sales.

This means that more mileage and passengers means more earnings, forcing a typical Ghanaian commercial driver to be on the road for between 12 to 16 hours a day without rest, a situation that causes them to lose concentration whilst driving due to fatigue. This came to the fore at the launch of the national campaign against driver fatigue by the NRSC and the Ministry of Transportation in Accra on Wednesday.

The campaign with the slogan: "Don't Drive Tired - Break the Drive, Stay Alive", aims to create awareness of fatigue and the risk associated with it while driving. Driver fatigue is the third major cause of accidents.

It is targeted at commercial drivers with particular focus on trotro, bus, and heavy goods vehicle drivers and passengers. Heavy-duty vehicles and minis buses constitute about 30 per cent of all road accidents in the country. The campaign is to run for about six weeks across the country. It would be carried out by the dissemination of stickers, a continuous documentary on national, regional and local television, outreach programmes with commercial drivers, radio commercials in all local languages, and posters, banners and media publications. It stresses adequate rest for drivers who drive for long distances. The campaign recommends at least a 10 to 30 minutes rest for a four-hour drive time.

Deputy Minister of Transportation, Mr Magnus Opare Asamoah who officially launched the campaign stressed the need for the authorities to make strategic decisions and implement effective measures to reduce road accidents and the resultant loss of life. He said since road transport was the primary means of movement, all road users should ensure that road transport was made reliable and safe at all times.

The Deputy Minister also called on transport stakeholders to ensure that the maximum driving time of eight hours a day was adhered to and enforced.

"Road safety is a shared responsibility, we should support all road safety initiatives to reduce road fatalities," he said. Mr Noble Appiah, Acting Executive Director of the NRSC, called on transport owners not to force their drivers to overwork themselves and also entreated drivers to take enough rest and shun stimulants. Some commercial drivers at the event appealed to government to introduce a National Drivers' Day to honour deserving drivers, and to also make available toll-free phone booths along the major highways for drivers to report the conduct of other offending drivers.