The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has announced that effective April 1, the transport sector will witness major changes in a bid to reduce the rampant road crashes in the country.
The announcement was made at a forum held to among stakeholders aimed at reducing road traffic accidents, injuries and deaths.
This becomes necessary as Ghana has recorded 755 commercial vehicle crashes, resulting in 82 deaths just for the month of January 2021.
Making reference to statistics from eleven fatal crashes since 2010, the NRSA has established causative analysis of all commercial vehicular accidents.
The Authority found that unregulated poor road networks, mechanical faults, miscommunication among drivers, as well as road indiscipline are major causes of road crashes.
Consequently, the NRSA has outlined five key regulatory directives transport operators must abide by including the enforcement of mandatory thirty-minute rest after a continuous period exceeding four hours and eight hours of rest for drivers who ride over eight hours.
To tackle the issue of sleep-driving, changes have been made in the sector to ensure a spare driver is available at all times for an effective shift system.
General Director of NRSA, Madam May Obiri Yeboah, said in accordance with Regulation 125 of the Transport Act, operators are admonished to provide training or professional development for high occupancy vehicle drivers by June 30, 2021.
Road Safety Officers, she added, will be stationed at vantage points to inspect logbooks containing details of vehicle (chassis number), driver (license number), origin of trip, destinations and rest periods for every long-distance journey effective April 1.
Failure to equip the authority with the necessary documentations, transport operators face a compliance notice form, suspension or administrative penalty of not less than 5000 units equivalent to GHS 60,000 and maximum of 20,000 units in a tune of GHS 240,000.
Stakeholders of the transport sector; the Road Commission, Police, GPRTU and Regional Directors agreed to the penalties and pledged to be of their best behaviour.
Adding his voice, General Manager of VIP-Jeoun, Mr Ernest Frimpong Manso alias Adakabre urged drivers to make full use of their national academy to equip themselves with road intelligence.
His comments comes at the back of a suggestion that the government must set up a transport college, one the NRSA assured will be in existence eventually.
Making reference to statistics from eleven crashes since 2010, the NRSA has established causative analysis of commercial vehicular accidents.
The authority outlined, but not limited to, unregulated poor road networks, mechanical faults, miscommunication among drivers, as well as road indiscipline as the major causes of road crashes.
Meanwhile, the National Road Safety Authority commended Multimedia Group’s Joy News for trumpeting the need for road safety through the #Arrive Alive campaign.