Samuel Agbewode
3 November 2009
Accra — The Volta Regional Chairman of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), Mr. Elvis Gbesemate, has called on the management of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to open up offices in the districts, for easy access to such services by drivers and vehicle owners in the region.
He said the existence of the regional office in Ho, and three other districts in the region, did not motivate people who needed such services, as they were compelled to travel long distances, a development, he noted, posed a threat to the travelling public, because vehicle owners and drivers who should acquire relevant documents before putting vehicles on the road, would not do so due to the distance involved.
Mr. Gbesemate, who made the call at the 10th Anniversary celebration of the National Road Safety Commission of the DVLA in Ho, noted that the introduction of fake insurance certificates, which some drivers were using to transact their business activities, equally posed a danger to passengers.
He explained that vehicles using such fake insurance certificates in their activities, would present a hopeless situation to passengers in case of accidents, and stressed the need for stakeholders in the transport sector to help address the problem, which he said, was gradually being introduced to the region.
Mr. Gbesemate pointed out that road safety was a shared responsibility of all, as the theme of the occasion indicated, saying the use of fake insurance certificates by some drivers, should be seen as a major problem in the transport sector, which should be discouraged.
The Principal Technical Officer at the DVLA, Mr. Godson Wemegah, pleaded with private credit providers to refrain from putting pressure on people who took loans to purchase vehicles to pay within a short period of time, to refrain from the practice, because it was clear that vehicles involved in accidents in the region, through over-speeding and wrongful overtaking, were vehicles bought through the assistance of private loans.
He said the drivers of these vehicles overwork most of the time, and fail to observe basic road signs and driving principles, which ended up in what he described as preventable accidents, just to satisfy the demands of the sales their vehicle owners ask them to do, as a result of the pressure on the vehicle owners from the credit providers to pay the loans within a short period.
Mr. Wemegah said another challenge confronting drivers, was poor eye sight, which made it impossible for them to see important road signs early enough, and urged drivers to check their eyes every two years.
He also mentioned intake of alcoholic substances by some drivers before embarking on their activities, which he said, was unprofessional and should be avoided, since it resulted in accidents.
The Volta Regional Police Commander, ACP David Ampah Bennin, assured the public of the preparedness of the police to continue to enforce traffic regulations on the roads, and called for public support in such efforts, noting that it was relevant to ensure a reliable and safe road transport system.
Mr. Ampah Bennin observed that even though road accident issues had reduced in the region, non-collaboration between drivers and passengers, as well as vehicle owners, still remained a major problem in the transport sector, adding that with mutual understanding, and support by all stakeholders, vehicular accidents could be reduced to an acceptable level.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Ghanaian Chronicle. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
