The Motor Traffic Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service is warning drivers against reckless driving this year.

The department said drivers who drive reckless when arrested would be prosecuted. The police service wants to reduce the number of deaths from road accidents this year and do not want to compromise on quality.

A senior MTTD commander in the Brong Ahafo region, ASP Andrews Okonengye, in an interaction with a group of drivers in Techiman advised them to reduce the speed on the road to save lives.

“The best thing you need to do is to take your time so that when the unforeseen happens you don’t have serious injuries,” the commander counselled.

He added: “The speeding is very much unnecessary. We need to take serious view of that and all necessary documentation you need to have – driver’s license, road worthy and insurance – are very necessary because you never know when you’ll need them.”

Statistics released by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) indicates that 708 persons died from 4,049 road accidents as of April 2017. Out of the figure, 3,983 persons sustained various degrees of injury with 1,199 pedestrian knockdowns involving 6,468 vehicles and 1,289 motorbikes.