The Face of Road Safety Africa (FORSA) 2020, Rejoice Dogber, has called on students and children to be road safety ambassadors ahead of the elections and Christmas festivities in order to reduce the number of accidents recorded during such periods.
According to her, drivers, parents and the elderly would be on their toes when children who are mostly victims of road accidents start to query them on road signs and reckless driving, which in effect will enforce discipline on the roads, because indiscipline has been a major cause of road accidents in the country.
“What I want you to understand as student is that your parents are trying their best to ensure you get good education so that you can be responsible citizens and also educate them on things they do not know especially those parents who are illiterate.
And so, I want you to be abreast with the common road signs in the cities, towns and villages so that when you are in a car and the driver is, for instance, parking at a no parking area or speeding at 70kmph when he is supposed to do 50kmph, you can question the driver or ask them to do the right thing,” she said.
Ms Dogber made this remark in her address on the theme: “Reimagine a safer world for every child,” at the launch of a road safety campaign ahead of the election and yuletide on World Children’s Day. The campaign was organised by AritaGlobe Foundation in collaboration with the National Road Safety Commission.
Head of Education, Research & Training, Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD) of Ghana Police Service, Superintendent Alexander Obeng, urged drivers, political leaders and all road users to adhere to the road safety regulations to save human lives, especially children as the 2020 polls and the Christmas season draw nearer.
“As we launch the official road safety campaign for children by AritaGlobe Foundation on this day to mark World Children’s Day, which seeks the welfare of children, everyone must play his or her part. The duty to ensure road safety cannot be left out if we do not want to lose loved ones, let’s all make sure we arrive alive for the sake of our children’s future and our own lives,” he said.
Executive Director of AritaGlobe Foundation, Princess Arita Anim, stated that over the years, there has been a spike in road crashes during election and Christmas periods following increase in political activities among others, therefore it is critical that stakeholders pay more attention as we head toward such season.
She emphasized that the most pathetic part is that children are usually at higher risk of road traffic injuries. “A lot of children become vulnerable following road accidents, road safety is very key and part of our agenda but this time we are focused on kids.
With this launch, we want to caution drivers to reimagine a world without accidents and reminding ourselves that every road user can be a victim of accidents. Children do not cause road accidents, they expect us to help them grow not to end their lives and dreams by any form of road recklessness,” she said.
Taking his turn, Director of Planning and Programming, National Road Safety Authority, Ing David Osafo Adonteng, revealed that the NRSA has already began an engagement with the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service (GES) on plans to include road safety education in the academic curriculum and stressed that engagements are still ongoing, hoping that such an initiative will help students better understand road usage.
