A Private Legal Practitioner, Lawyer Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, has intimated that citizens and stakeholders cannot continue to look on for lives to be lost to road accidents in the country.
According to Lawyer Tamakloe, the spate at which accidents are claiming lives is so alarming that drastic measures should be taken immediately before the worse happens. As such, the legal practitioner proposed to Parliament to enact laws that will prevent drivers from driving late in the night. “If we the people and drivers involved will not agree to do the right thing, then we need a law.”
Mr. Edudzi Tamakloe lamented about how some drivers try to “cheat nature” by foregoing rest and end up falling asleep behind the wheel leading to fatal road accidents. He suggested that there should be some strict laws that will guide drivers, especially the big truck drivers who carelessly park on the shoulders of the road posing as danger to drivers and pedestrians.
“Some of these accidents can be avoided if only the laws enacted are enforced by the security agencies. We cannot continue to look on while innocent lives are lost through road accidents when something can be done about it. It is about time Parliament enact laws that will protect passengers and drivers and also reduce road carnages.”
Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe
The legal practitioner urged drivers to ensure they get enough rest before taking their trips to avoid these kind of unfortunate incidents. He stated that most of these accidents take place at dawn and this is obvious the drivers do not get adequate rest.
Laws need to be passed and adhered to
Mr. Tamakloe maintained that just like governments in advanced countries pass laws relative to road traffic regulations and ensure that these laws are strictly adhered to by drivers, same should be done in Ghana. “We have not even ended the third quarter of the year yet we have recorded not less than 500 deaths through road accidents. It cannot continue like this.”
“If it comes to such road accidents it becomes a problem for all of us. When you look at market women who go long journeys in search of food stuff and you hear such incidents, it makes the issue sadder.”
Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe
The Legal Practitioner expressed his condolences to the families who have lost their relatives in the road carnages. He averred that such situations are hard to deal with as most of the people who pass are bread winners of their families.
His comments followed some fourteen (14) persons onboard an Accra-bound Ford vehicle from Tarkwa who have perished in a car crash at Asem Asa in the Shama District, near the boundary between Western and Central Regions. A number of bodies at the scene of the accident were left charred after the crashed bus caught fire.
According to reports, the accident occurred after a truck lost control and burst its tyre in an attempted overtaking, and crashed into the Ford. So far, nine relatives of the 14 persons who perished in the Asem Asa accident in the Western Region have shown up at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital to identify the bodies.
Read Also: Keep Ghana Heritage Fund, but Change Quality of Investment Instrument- Dr Theo Acheampong
