It is estimated that every day six people are killed through road traffic accidents in Ghana with this year alone registering 1,524 deaths and 8,904 injuries.
Driver inattentiveness had been said to be the major contributory factor accounting for 43 per cent of all road traffic crashes.
Ing. Mrs May Obiri-Yeboah, Executive Director, National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) announced this at the 4th Annual National Conference of the Ghana National Association of Driving Schools held in Ho.
The two-day conference is on the theme: “Driver Education the key to carnage reduction on our roads.”
She noted that road safety had become a major public health issue in the world including Ghana and that called for concerted efforts by all in reducing deaths and injuries on roads with driving schools playing a key role.
Mrs Obiri-Yeboah said studies had shown that 87 per cent of people learn driving through various informal arrangements and the remaining 13 per cent through driving schools.
The Executive Director said that this was a very disturbing situation and everything must be done to reduce the trend.
She said negative road user behaviours including speeding, drink driving, wrongful overtaking, poor maintenance of vehicles, poor road infrastructure and others contributed to the indiscipline on our roads.
Mrs Obiri-Yeboah maintained that there must be a paradigm shift from being driver instructors to driver coaches, saying the instructive approach imparts practical knowledge and tests it until it has been learnt.
She commended the immense role being played by driving schools in ensuring safety on the roads and assured that they would continue to count on their collaborative partnership in achieving the objectives of the UN Decade of Action on providing safer vehicles and encouraging safer road user behaviour.
Mr Kafui Semevor, Deputy Director of Training, Testing and Licensing of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) stated that attitude of drivers on the roads had been a nuisance as they operated with impunity, with majority of them ignoring road safety regulations.
The president of the Ghana National Association of Driving Schools, Reverend Erasmus Amankwa Addo, noted that from a humble number of 40 schools, there were 270 schools operating in the country.
He said their projection was that in 10 years’ time all drivers plying our roads will be their products so that the carnage on our roads will be reduced.
He said that the driver was a valuable asset in the industry and must be given the proper recognition to perform better.