Use ICT applications to improve road safety – Minister

The Minister of Communications, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, has urged Ghanaians to make use of information and communication technology (ICT) to help address the carnage on our roads.

He said ICT had the capacity to solve road accidents and challenged the public to determine how ICT could be used to improve road safety.

He further encouraged developers of these platforms to customise the ICT applications to make motoring safe.  “If you consider the number of people who lose their lives and individuals who suffer physically, it is clear that the carnage on our roads and transport sector in general negatively affects the growth of our country and world at large,” he said at a ceremony in Accra to commemorate World Telecommunication and Information Society Day in Accra.

It had the theme, “ICTs and Improving Road Safety”.

Research has revealed that driver distraction and road user behaviour, which includes text messaging and interfacing with in-vehicle communication systems while driving, are among the leading contributory factors to road traffic fatalities and injuries.

He said the call to action, therefore, enjoined all stakeholders to prioritise the implementation of policies that take into account ICT standards, to enhance road safety and promote awareness of safety concerns including avoiding the use of the gadgets and devices that cause distractions.

He said that the government was undertaking the digitisation of records at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and it would be helpful if collaborating institutions including the Ghana Police Service, Ministry of Roads and Highways and National Road Safety Commission develop ICT platforms which  would allow accessibility and enable data to be shared and synchronised.

Ghana, Dr Boamah said, was going to push for the adoption of a harmonised frequency band for automotive short-range high-resolution radar operations when the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2015 considers allocation of the band 77.5  to 78 Giga Hertz to radiolocation services.

Globally, 1.3 million people die each year in traffic crashes and another 20 to 50 million people are injured mainly in developing countries. As a result, governments and individuals suffer an estimated US$518 billion in global economic loss.

In Ghana, about 2,000 lives are lost annually due to road traffic crashes and several other thousands are injured. Furthermore, 1.6 per cent of our gross domestic product (GDP) is lost through these preventable crashes; a situation that the Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor said called for action now.

She mentioned some of the adaptations of ICT systems for the road transport sector aimed at improving road safety in Ghana as the speed camera (to reduce speed-related crashes); vehicle tracking system (to improve safety and security); web-based road accident database management system (to give the National Road Safety Commission and other stakeholders credible data in real time), and driver testing and vehicle roadworthiness (to ensure right calibre of drivers).

“With the upcoming spot fines, nearly all the operational processes from issuing tickets to receiving payment of fines will be ICT based. Other devices to help to improve road safety include sleep alert alarm, vehicle trip recorder, lane changing detectors and collision warning systems,” she said.

The Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Isaac Agyei Mensah, urged all road users to see it as their responsibility to caution persons whose actions pose a danger to themselves and others while they are driving or crossing a road.