Police warns against illegal blocking of roads for funerals
The Western Regional Commander of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit(MTTU), Deputy Superintendent of Police Thomas Bayo, has said that roads blocked for funerals and other social events in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis were done without permission from the Unit.
He said the Unit was responsible for granting permits for road blockade after it had assessed the road and found alternative routes to divert traffic.
However, he said, the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Urban Road Department (URD) granted permits for road blockade without recourse to the Unit.
DSP Bayo said this at a stakeholders’ meeting organized by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) in Takoradi on Tuesday.
He said it was illegal to block roads without permission and create unnecessary traffic jam, adding that the police would start cracking the whip on offenders
DSP Bayo suggested that pedestrian crossing points should be located away from road intersections since experience had shown that there had been more pedestrian knockdowns at pedestrian crossings very close to intersections.
He mentioned Effiakuma pedestrian crossing in the metropolis as a case in point where pedestrian knockdowns occur due to its closeness to an intersection.
DSP Bayo also mentioned other flash points in the twin-city as Kojokrom main road, Ketan junction and Edzii roundabout and advised that speed rumps should be constructed at those places.
He said the ban on commercial motorbikes popularly known as “Okada” was still in force, adding that the number of pedestrian knockdowns by motor riders had increased in the Region.
DSP Bayo said the Unit would step up arresting unregistered motorbikes, those without crashing helmets and arbitrarily crossing of traffic lights to reduce pedestrian knockdowns and carnage on the road.
Mr. Matthew Boateng, the Regional Manager of the Ghana Red Cross Society, proposed to organise training on first aid for police personnel since poor handling of accident victims had been identified as one of the causes of casualties on the road.
Mr James Kofi Andoh, the Deputy Regional Licensing Officer of the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA), appealed to vehicle owners to buy genuine spare parts for their vehicles and that some crashes occurred as a result of inferior spare parts fixed on vehicles.
He said the DVLA had begun computer-based testing of vehicles and said vehicles that failed the test would not be issued with road worthy certificates.
Source: GNA