The Northern Regional Minister, Bede A. Ziedeng, has bemoaned the indiscipline on the roads in the region and has, therefore, declared support and commitment to the Road Safety Commission to reverse the trend.

Mr Ziedeng added that radical ideas and measures were needed to prevent needless deaths and injuries on the roads and promised to assist the Road Safety Commission and other stakeholders to maintain road safety.

According to the Regional Minister, punitive measures must be adopted against perpetrators of road traffic rules and regulations to serve as deterrent to others.

According to him, it was necessary for the commission to collaborate with the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, as well as traditional and opinion leaders in the region to maintain road discipline.

“The issue of road safety and security is a collective responsibility and all stakeholders, including politicians, must work together to prevent unwanted loss of precious lives,” said the Regional Minister.

Mr Bede Ziedeng made these comments during a courtesy on him call last week by the deputy director of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) in charge of monitoring and evaluation, Mrs Ing. Obiri Yeboah.

The visit by the deputy director was part of activities to solicit the commitment of the minister and other stakeholders in the region to ensure discipline on the roads.

Mr Ziedeng mentioned riding of motorbikes without crash helmets, wrongful overtaking and drunk driving as some of the causes of accidents in the region and also called on the police to intensify its patrols on the major highways to check unlawful traffic activities.

He assured the commission of the support of his outfit to ensure road discipline and also urged them to do more to educate the public.

Mrs Ing. Yeboah said her tour of the region revealed that road indiscipline was still very rampant, describing the situation as alarming.

She observed that motorbike riders in the region were the worst offenders of road traffic rules and regulations and urged that they be brought to order.

Mrs Ing. Yeboah also pointed out that if the situation should remain unchecked the nation was not likely to meet the United Nations’ decade of action for road safety, which seeks to minimise the number of deaths and injuries on the roads by 50% between 2011 and 2020.

According to her, though research has revealed that 70% of Ghanaians are aware of the road safety regulations, they sometimes deliberately refuse to abide by them.

“We do not have the mandate to enforce the law on road safety so we are seeking your support, together with the police and other stakeholders, to make our campaign a success,” she pleaded.