#SafeMotorway4All: A rainy day on the motorway
Just like rights and responsibilities go hand-in-hand, we have a role to play to ensure that the motorway is truly safe for all
If you commute the Accra-Tema Motorway daily, like me, you will be concerned whenever it rains. Accidents on a rainy day have become a norm on the expressway, but that is unacceptable.
Yesterday’s rain gave me the usual scare as we got on to the “death trap.” The trotro (mini commercial bus) driver did quite well by not speeding. Traffic had built up on the Accra-Tema stretch of the highway, some metres after the Abattoir bus stop. Two vehicles had been involved in an accident. The long vehicle had blocked the road completely.
The incident looked like lives might have been lost. There were officials at the scene managing the situation. We drove for some few kilometres and got stuck in traffic. There was an accident on our side of the highway – the Tema-Accra-bound stretch. A vehicle had run into a tree and uprooted it. The front of the vehicle was crushed. I doubt if the driver survived it.
Wrong overtaking
On the slippery road, some drivers engaged in wrong overtaking while others drove at top speed. At some point, we were almost involved in an accident because a driver wrongfully overtook our vehicle.
Asaase Radio has embarked on the #SafeMotorway4All campaign since March. It has drawn attention to the deplorable state of the motorway. There have been commitments from government to repair the highway… I am yet to see any work done to fix the huge potholes.
The government has a key role to play in getting the highway to standard. Just like rights and responsibilities go hand-in-hand, we have a role to play to ensure that the motorway is truly safe for all.
Trotro drivers, after dropping off passengers on the motorway, do not check well enough to be sure it is safe to get back on the highway. This recklessness is a major cause of major and minor accidents, in addition to over-speeding, wrong overtaking and faulty cars plying the highway.
Driving is a profession that should be regulated properly to ensure that whoever sits behind the steering wheel has the necessary training and experience to move a vehicle. The same priority that is given to professions like nursing, teaching and engineering should be given to driving.
Drivers are entrusted with lives and property. We seek medical care from health facilities because we know the health workers have been trained to care for the sick. They renew their licences annually.
Drivers also renew their licences annually. The licencing procedure should be more rigorous. As a driver, always remember that the lives of your passengers have been entrusted to you during the period you drive them. As a passenger, when the driver is being reckless, call them to order respectfully. And drivers, don’t take offence when passengers call you to order.
Emmanuel Asei Kangah
Asaase Radio 99.5 broadcasts on radio via 99.5 in Accra, 98.5 in Kumasi, 99.7 in Tamale, 100.3 in Cape Coast and on our affiliates Bawku FM 101.5 in Bawku, Beats FM 99.9 in Bimbilla, Somua FM 89.9 in Gushegu, Stone City 90.7 in Ho, Mining City 89.5 in Tarkwa and Wale FM 106.9 in Walewale
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