The Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service on Wednesday held a seminar to educate drivers at the Tudu Lorry Park in Accra on how to avoid accidents during the Christmas and New Year festivities.

Chief Superintendent Victor Tandoh, the Commander of the MTTU, told the drivers not allow over confidence to take the better part of them while driving to minimise accidents.He said last year there were 10,000 road accidents leading to over 1,000 casualties and attributed the situation to tiredness, over-speeding and drunkenness on the part of drivers and poor condition of vehicles.

Chief Superintendent Tandoh said the police would embark on an exercise to clamp down on drivers whose licenses have expired.Alhaji Ali Kudzen, Chairman of the Tudu Lorry Park Drivers Welfare Committee, appealed to the contractor working on the Tema-Aflao trunk road to water the road to avoid frequent accidents since dust affects visibility.

Mr Emmanuel Teye Nuertey, deputy Chief Metro Guard of the Accra Metropolitan Authority, said the Authority would pass a law to make the sale of alcoholic drinks at all lorry parks in the metropolis an offence next year following passengers persistent complaints of drunkenness on the part of drivers.

1.3 billion cedis realised from fines from drivers in Accra

A total of 1.3 billion cedis was realised as fines from owners of 5,546 vehicles arrested for various traffic offences by the Motor Traffic and Transport Union (MTTU) from January to November this year in the Accra Metropolis.

Offences committed by drivers included driving on pavements, ignoring traffic light regulations, careless driving and overspeeding.Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Solomon Kobina Ntim an official at the MTTU, who made this known to the GNA in an interview in Accra on Thursday, also said the Unit had launched an exercise to clamp down on offending drivers to prevent road accidents in Accra.

DSP Ntim said, "We combined the enforcement of traffic laws with driver education exercise so that offenders who would be arrested and fined would be made to attend classes on driving rules".

He advised drivers not to allow persons without driving license to drive their vehicle and warned that any offender would be made to face the full regions of the law.DSP Ntim advised drivers to regard the safety of passengers and pedestrians when driving.